New drugs appear to slow spread
of prostate cancer
SAN FRANCISCO -- May
15, 2001 (Cancer Digest) -- Two studies of new drugs designed
to block the spread of prostate cancer to bone appear to significantly
slow progression of the cancer according to research presented
at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting this week.
Approximately 30 percent
of men with prostate cancer eventually have their cancer spread
to bone. Such bone metastases can cause debilitating pain and
are the major cause of death in men with prostate cancer.
The first study involved
244 men with prostate cancer that no longer responded to hormone
therapy, and that had spread to the bones but had not yet caused
associated symptoms.
The research team led
by Dr. Michael Carducci, of Johns Hopkins University Medical
Center, randomly assigned patients to receive either the oral
drug, ABT-627 (atrasentan) or a placebo.
Patients treated with
ABT-627 went and average of 198 days before bone scans revealed
advancing bone cancer, or before the men experienced pain. Patients
on the placebo, averaged 129 days before the researchers saw
indications that their cancer was advancing.
The drug also doubled
the time from 10 weeks in the placebo group to 20 weeks for prostate
specific antigen (PSA) tests to rise by more than 50 percent
-- another indicator that the drug slowed cancer progression.
"This is quite
exciting because the data suggests this low-toxicity pill leads
to clinical benefit," Carducci said in a prepared statement.
"It delays the time before patients may need additional
systemic treatments.
These findings are
especially important given the current lack of successful treatment
options for patients who do not respond to hormone therapy.
In the second study
conducted by British researchers from the Royal Marsden Hospital
in Sutton, England, 311 patients with advanced prostate cancer
that had spread to the bone, took oral clodronate or placebo.
In the group taking
the drug, the men reported pain from bone metastasis at a median
of 24 months, compared to a median of 19 months for the men randomized
to receive a placebo. Results from the trial also suggest an
overall survival benefit of 7 months.
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