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 [...]
Again and again I have mentioned the huge need we have for the development of reliable bio-markers. Reliable bio-markers will allow us to know which men will respond positively to a treatment (also those who will not) and when a treatment is still effective (also when it no longer is effective). These biomarkers really don’t [...]
Being able to make better decisions about drug sequencing and combinations has become one of the current hot topics in prostate cancer research. Given that we have a number of newer drugs to use this is an important clinical issue as we make important treatment decisions. Making these clinical decisions is tough. The fact is [...]
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 [...]
Researchers in Hong Kong wanted to confirm the efficacy of abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) used prior to chemotherapy that had been shown in the trial setting. In their analysis they came up short; raising some very significant concerns about Zytiga’s efficacy when used prior to chemotherapy. They reviewed the clinical records of men with metastatic castrate [...]
In a sudden reversal of its prior opinion the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued final guidance recommending Janssen’s Zytiga (abiraterone) to treat advanced prostate cancer before chemotherapy. Its prior recommendation was not to approve Zytiga. TAccording to NICE their decision to change their December 2015 recommendation follows the submission [...]
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 [...]
Since we have many new treatments for men with castrate resistant metastatic prostate cancer (mCRPC) (advanced prostate cancer) we need to develop earlier indicators of when a treatment might or might not be successful. A decline in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is widely used to monitor treatment response, but it has not been validated as an [...]
