A presentation at the ASCO conference in Florida reconfirmed the fact that increased levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) is associated with adverse outcomes (earlier death) in men with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) treated with docetaxel (taxotere).

The study analyzed the baseline serum samples from 119 castrate resistant (CRPC) men enrolled in 6 phase I or II clinical trials. Out of the sample 91% of the men had metastases and 16% had prior chemotherapy exposure as part of their treatment protocol. Median follow-up was 19.7 months and 89% of the men had died at the time of follow up. In a multivariate model CRP (HR 1.09, p=0.036) was independently associated with survival. The risk of death was estimated to increase 8.7% for every doubling of the CRP.

This study confirms that CRPC patients with higher baseline CRP have worse survival. If you have an elevated CRP you need to insist that your treatment become very aggressive and you should give very serious consideration in enrolling into a clinical trial.

Presented at ASCO by R. Prins, MD, et al. at the 45th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) – May 29 – June 2, 2009 – Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida USA.

Joel T Nowak MA, MSW