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Trial drug shows promise for advanced prostate cancer
August 16, 2012
Results have been published for a novel drug that appears to help extend the lives of men with advanced prostate cancer.
An investigational drug has produced promising results in a recent phase-III clinical trial designed to assess its effectiveness in men with advanced prostate cancer.
The oral therapy enzalutamide was found to improve survival by around five months, compared with a placebo (dummy treatment).
Scientists tested the drug in men with inoperable prostate cancer whose disease had spread to other parts of the body.
They found that men who used enzalutamide lived for a median of 18.4 months, compared with just 13.6 months for those taking the placebo.
The findings are published in the New England Journal of Medicine and suggest enzalutamide could be a promising new treatment for the disease.
Dr Howard Scher, from Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in the US, said that the data "represent an important body of clinical evidence on enzalutamide ... as a potential new treatment that can prolong the lives of men with advanced prostate cancer".
Professor Alan Ashworth, chief executive of the UK's Institute of Cancer Research, observed that advanced prostate cancer is extremely difficult to treat.
He added: "What we're seeing now is an unprecedented period of success for prostate cancer research, with four new drugs shown to extend life in major clinical trials in just two years, and several others showing promise."
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