Prostate cancer drug improved patient survival in large clinical trial

June 7, 2017

A prostate cancer drug therapy targeting cancer that has already spread was found to improve patient survival in one of the largest clinical trials for the disease, UK researchers said.

The drug, called abiraterone, was used in the trial as an additional treatment in patients with prostate cancer who were about to start long-term hormone therapy.

Abiraterone improved survival and saved lives when it offered earlier, according to results published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

“These are the most powerful results I’ve seen from a prostate cancer trial – it’s a once-in-a-career feeling,”Professor Nicholas James, from the University of Birmingham in the UK, who led the research, said. He added that this is one of the biggest reductions in death he has seen in any clinical trial for adult cancers.

Abiraterone, also known as Zytiga, is a hormone therapy. Unlike chemotherapy which kills the cancerous cells, it stops more testosterone from reaching the prostate gland to stifle the tumor’s growth.

The trial involved almost 2,000 patients.Half the men were treated with hormone therapy while the other half received hormone therapy and abiraterone.

Of the 1,917 men in the trial, there were 184 deaths in the combination group compared with 262 in those given hormone therapy alone.

Professor James added: “Abiraterone is already used to treat some men whose disease has spread but our results show many more could benefit.”

Each year, around 46,500 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in the UK, and around 11,000 men die from the disease.

The results of the trial were presented at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago.

Professor Johann de Bono said they showed that when used at the start of treatment, abiraterone had “clear benefits for patients”.

In March, patients with prostate cancer in England were told they could have early access to abiraterone.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) previously said the treatment was not cost-effective for the NHS until cancers were more advanced. Institute of Cancer Research chief executive Professor Paul Workman said he was now eager to see abiraterone reassessed by NICE for patient use as early as possible.

Tags: featured