In December, researchers reported Results A study showed that the drug abiraterone halved the chance of death from prostate cancer in a certain group of patients who had not been previously treated with it. Currently, abiraterone is just approved for men with prostate cancer that has spread throughout the body (metastasized). But the boys within the study were treated within the early stages, before their tumors had a likelihood to spread. Based on the outcomes, the investigators concluded that abiraterone needs to be considered for the treatment of aggressive prostate cancer that has not yet spread to other sites, but is more likely to in the long run.
Abiraterone was first approved in 2011, specifically for metastatic prostate cancer that now not responds to chemotherapy or drugs that block testosterone (a hormone that fuels prostate tumor growth). Treatments that block the production of testosterone within the testicles and other glands are called androgen deprivation therapy, or ADT. Some tumors get around ADT by making their very own testosterone, nevertheless, and that's where abiraterone comes into the image: It stops cancer cells from making the hormone. Doctors prescribe abiraterone together with prednisolone, a steroid that reduces the unintended effects of the treatment. More recently, the approval of abiraterone was prolonged to men who still reply to ADT or haven’t yet been treated with chemotherapy.
In the newly published study, called STAMPEDE, researchers from the UK and Switzerland enrolled 1,974 men with high-risk cancer that was still confined to the prostate and nearby lymph nodes. gave The STAMPEDE clinical trial is testing several treatments for advanced prostate cancer, and this particular study was one among several conducted as a part of this broader effort. The average age of the boys on this case was 68 years, and every of them was assigned to one among three different groups:
- ADT by itself (control group, which included 988 men)
- ADT together with abiraterone and prednisolone (459 men)
- ADT with abiraterone, prednisolone, and one other drug called enzalutamide that is analogous to abiraterone (527 men).
ADT continued for 3 years within the control group, while most men receiving combination therapy received two years of treatment.
Results
After six years of follow-up, 7% of the 986 men who received abiraterone as a part of their treatment had died of prostate cancer. In contrast, 15% of the 988 men given ADT died of prostate cancer. Moreover, abiraterone significantly increased the time taken for metastases to seem.
Based on these findings, the investigators concluded that “patients were treated with combination therapy [that includes abiraterone] More more likely to live longer and die of one other cause. Side effects were more common in men treated with abiraterone, and included hypertension and increased liver enzymes. Adding enzalutamide had no additional treatment advantages, making use of the drug in patients with nonmetastatic cancer “unjustified. Due to additional toxicity and cost,” the investigators wrote.