Significant drug breakthrough for prostate cancer
The drug could be available in 2011 for men with advanced prostate cancer
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Tuesday, 22, Jul 2008 12:54
A new drug could be available from 2011 that can treat the majority of patients with an aggressive and previously drug resistant form of prostate cancer.
Trials of the drug abiraterone suggest that it could treat up to 80 per cent of the 10,000 British men diagnosed each year with the almost always fatal form of the disease.
The trial, undertaken by the Institute of Cancer Research and The Royal Marsden Hospital, London, revealed significant tumour shrinkage in advanced prostate cancer patients who received the drug.
Falls in PSA levels - a protein associated with prostate cancer activity – were also observed.
Lead researcher Dr Johann de Bono said the drug abiraterone worked to block the generation of key hormones that drive the growth of prostate cancers.
He added that the Royal Marsden patients in the study, who have been monitored for up to two and a half years, have managed to control their disease with few side-effects.
A number were able to stop taking morphine for the relief of bone pain.
Researchers hope abiraterone will eventually offer patients hope of an effective way of managing their condition and prolonging their lives.
"It is envisioned that this drug will be available for general use from 2011 and we hope it can become widely available," said Dr de Bono.
"In the interim, it is available through clinical trials only."
Commenting on the trial's results, Professor Malcolm Mason, Cancer Research UK's prostate cancer expert, said: "These early results are extremely exciting but there's a lot more work needed to establish what Abiraterone's place will be in treating men with prostate cancer.
"At the moment the studies are being done on a small number of men with very advanced disease so it's much too early to say what role the drug might have in treating others with earlier stage prostate cancer. We need the results of a much larger study to see if this early promise will be fulfilled."