ICR-Discovered Drug Improved Prostate Cancer Patient Survival
11 October 2010 – A drug developed at the ICR can significantly extend overall survival for men with advanced prostate cancer, a large-scale patient trial has shown.
Prostate cancer growth is fuelled by the male hormone testosterone, and in its aggressive form can produce its own supply. Abiraterone acetate is a pill designed to block an enzyme involved in the synthesis of testosterone.
The randomised Phase III trial, funded by Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, included 1,195 patients from 13 countries who had previously been treated with other available therapies, including docetaxel-based chemotherapy. Average overall survival among the 797 patients who received abiraterone acetate plus the steroid prednisone was 14.8 months, compared to 10.9 months for the 398 patients who received the steroid and a placebo.
When compared to the placebo group, patients on abiraterone acetate were more likely to experience a significant drop in their prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels, the standard measure of prostate cancer activity. X-rays showed mean time until tumour growth was longer for the treatment group, and, on average, men taking abiraterone acetate also had more time before their PSA level started to rise again.
Doctors reported patients taking abiraterone acetate generally did not experience some of the unpleasant side-effects associated with chemotherapy. Patients in the abiraterone acetate group did experience more minerlocorticoid-related side effects than those in the placebo group, but these were usually amenable to medical management.
Chief Investigator Dr Johann de Bono from the ICR and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust says the results may lead to a change in the way doctors treat these patients.
“This is extremely exciting because men with this aggressive type of prostate cancer currently have very few treatment options and a poor prognosis,” he said.
