British Men Who Have Had Abiraterone Will Not Get Enzalutamide Despite Its Life Extending Ability Our brothers in England hit a major snag last week as NHS placed a burdensome restriction on the use of enzalutamide (Xtandi) for men with advanced prostate cancer who have already had abiraterone (Zytiga). Because of this ridiculous decision thousands [...]
In yesterday's post I wrote about the possibility of looking for the presence of the splice variant ARV7 to determine if you would be resistant to enzalutamide (Xtandi). Today I am going to expand on this issue and discuss an additional study that demonstrated that the presence of ARV7 in circulating tumor cells not only [...]
Abiraterone Acetate (Zytiga) and enzalutamide (Xtandi) are the newest generation hormonal agents. They both have demonstrated a survival advantage in men with castrate resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) who have already been treated with docetaxel (chemotherapy). Unfortunately all men who are responsive to both of these drugs eventually become resistant. Some men are subject to early [...]
What will happen when enzalutamide (Xtandi) is approved for use in advanced prostate cancer in the disease stage prior to chemotherapy (that is if it is approved)? Already occupying this space and already approved by the FDA is both Provenge and abiraterone (Zytiga). Where will Xtandi fit in? Until we have a lot more data, [...]
The FDA approved Abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) plus prednisone because it demonstrated a survival benefit for men with metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) in the pre-chemotherapy setting. Given the newness of the approval of Zytiga in this disease stage there is a lack of data on how Zytiga affects the efficacy of enzalutamide (Xtandi) or [...]
In my continuing reports about interesting and pertinent information released at the ASCO 2014 meeting one abstract described a phase 2 trial combining an attack on androgens in metastatic prostate cancer resistant to initial hormone therapy. This proof of concept study showed that combining Enzalutamide (Xtandi) plus abiraterone (Zytiga) drove down testosterone levels and appeared [...]
Given all the newly approved drugs available to us to treat advanced prostate cancer there now are many questions about the optimal sequencing of these drugs and whether earlier use of one causes cross-resistance to another. Recently, it was reported that chemotherapy with docetaxel is inactive in men with metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) [...]
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which is Britain’s healthcare cost-effectiveness agency, has determined that abiraterone (Zytiga) was not worth giving to men with castrate resistant metastatic prostate cancer who have yet to had chemotherapy. Unlike the FDA in the United States which rules only on a drug’s efficacy, NICE decides if [...]
It has always been assumed that Ketoconazole, when used for the treatment of men with metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), would not be as potent as abiraterone (Zytiga), but there has never been any head to head comparison to demonstrate this assumption! Ketoconazole is a less potent inhibitor of the CYP-17 enzyme, the mode [...]
There is some really good news for those of us who live in areas where The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends drug approvals. NICE has issued a final draft guidance recommending that men with hormone-relapsed prostate cancer (castrate resistant) that has metastasized and has been treated with docetaxel (chemotherapy) should be [...]
