General Prostate Cancer News

PCRI is pleased to provide general prostate cancer news items courtesy of CancerConsultants.com Inc. whose mission is “to empower patients with current information on all aspects of the management of Prostate Cancer in order to provide support and hope, as well as to facilitate informed decisions”.

---

Provenge Approved for Advanced Prostate Cancer

Provenge® (sipuleucel-T), a type of immunotherapy, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic, metastatic, hormone-refractory prostate cancer.[1]

Prostate cancer is a hormonally sensitive disease that can be controlled for long periods with androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT). When prostate cancer stops responding to this treatment it is referred to as hormone-refractory. Metastatic, hormone-refractory prostate cancer is a challenging form of the disease to treat because the cancer has spread to distant sites in the body and does not respond to treatment with hormonal therapy.

Provenge is an immunotherapy that prompts the body’s immune system to respond against the cancer. A Phase III clinical trial that contributed to the approval of Provenge was a study known as IMPACT (IMmunotherapy for Prostate AdenoCarcinoma Treatment). The study enrolled 512 men with metastatic, hormone-refractory prostate cancer. Study participants were treated with either Provenge or a placebo. Median overall survival was 25.8 months in the Provenge group compared with 21.7 months in the placebo group.[2]

The most common side effects of Provenge are chills, fatigue, fever, back pain, nausea, joint ache, and headache.

Initially, Provenge is expected to be made available at approximately 50 centers, all of which were approved Provenge clinical trial sites.

References:

---

[1] FDA News Release. FDA Approves a Cellular Immunotherapy for Men with Advanced Prostate Cancer. Available at: http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm210174.htm Accessed April 29, 2010.

[2] Kantoff P, Higano CS, Berger ER, et al. Updated survival results of the IMPACT trial of sipuleucel-T for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Presented at the 2010 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in San Francisco. March 5-7, 2010. Abstract #8.

Latest Prostate Cancer News

Death from Other Causes Among Men with Early-stage Prostate Cancer (8/26/2010)
Among men with early-stage prostate cancer, assessment of other health problems may help guide prostate cancer treatment decisions; men who are likely to die of causes other than prostate cancer may not benefit from aggressive prostate cancer treatment. These findings were published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Study Evaluates Physician Use of Finasteride for Prostate Cancer Prevention (8/18/2010)
Recent research indicates that 64% of urologists and 80% of primary care physicians surveyed do not prescribe finasteride for prevention of prostate cancer in high-risk men. These findings were recently published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Provenge® for Hormone-refractory Prostate Cancer (8/11/2010)
Among men with metastatic, hormone-refractory prostate cancer, the immunotherapy agent Provenge® (sipuleucel-T) improves survival by roughly four months. The findings from this Phase III study were recently published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Study Evaluates Incidence of Lymphedema Resulting from Cancer Treatment (8/9/2010)
A systematic review of 47 studies evaluating treatment for melanoma, head and neck cancer, genitourinary cancers, gynecologic cancers, and sarcoma indicates that lymphedema is a common side effect of treatment for these diseases.

Study Explores Prostate Cancer Among Men with Low PSA Levels (7/30/2010)
In a large U.S. cancer database, 14% of prostate cancer diagnoses occurred among men with a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level of 4.0 ng/mL or lower. More than half of these men had cancer that was considered “low-risk,” but roughly three-quarters were treated aggressively with radical prostatectomy or radiation therapy. These results were published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Prostate Cancer News Archives »

Copyright ©2005 CancerConsultants.com. All Rights Reserved.

General Prostate Cancer News Archives
 

Prostate Cancer Research Institute (PCRI)
 

Material provided by PCRI is intended for educational purposes for discussion with your physician and should not be considered as medical advice. Information and opinions expressed on this website are not an endorsement by PCRI for any treatment, product or service.