One of the hot topics in the prostate cancer community is the value of detecting AR-V7 tumor cells circulating in the blood. AR-V7 tumor cells in the blood predicts response or failure of treatment with enzalutamide (Xtandi) or abiraterone (Zytiga). A recent study found that men who have AR-V7 circulating tumor cells in their blood will not [...]
A late-stage clinical trial designed to see if Xtandi in addition to Zytiga along with a steroid worked any better than either of these drugs separately (combining them v sequencing them) in men with advanced prostate cancer whose disease had worsened it was concluded that the combination was not superior to the individual drugs. This [...]
CVS Health, a major retail pharmaceutical insurer and supplier has raised some consternation and concerns and it should also raise yours. Last Tuesday, CVS rolled out their 2017 formulary list that left off the some of the world’s top-selling drugs including a vital castrate resistant prostate cancer drug. The pharmacy benefits manager removed from their [...]
Speaking with men who have taken abiraterone (Zytiga, ABI) and enzalutamide (Xtandi, ENZA), at Malecare we sometimes hear reports of both cognitive and mood changes brought on by these two drugs. Evaluating these two problematic side effects researchers have confirmed our experience, both of these drugs can cause these symptoms and that more men reported [...]
We have a number of newer hormone pathway drugs now available to treat men with metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Researchers have shown that prostate specific antigen (PSA) response can be used as a pharmaco-dynamic end-point that may help identify men with early resistance to these new drugs. They found that there is clinical [...]
The phase III trials for both Xtandi and Zytiga were similar. Both trials investigated men who progressed or died against placebo. Only 14% of men taking Xtandi during the trial progressed or died compared to 40% of the men in the placebo group. In the phase III trial of Zytiga 28% of the men [...]
Once a clinical trial has been completed, especially when the trial is positive, researchers will “data mine” the published information. The published results provide additional opportunities to evaluate the data in different ways than the trial was originally designed. This new data can be very interesting and informative, however it also needs to be considered [...]
We have become very fortunate over the last 6 years because our arsenal of potential drugs to treat advanced, metastatic prostate cancer has grown. All of our new drugs extend life and most offer palliation of pain. As I have discussed in prior posts we are still in a quandary about how best to sequence [...]
Analysis of the PREVAIL Trial showed that Enzalutamide (Xtandi) significantly increased overall survival and radiographic progression-free survival compared with placebo in men with prostate cancer who were asymptomatic and minimally symptomatic, chemotherapy-naive and who had metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Now, an additional analysis of the data has shown the effect enzalutamide also has on [...]
Before I get into the meat of today’s post about enzalutamide, I want to briefly make some personal comments about my absence from this blog. As I had mentioned I have been diagnosed with a fifth primary cancer, appendiceal cancer. It is a rare cancer, which required my having to remove my appendix, a piece [...]
