New Drug Fights Advanced Prostate Cancer

March 3, 2010 -- A new drug shows promise for extending the lives of men
with advanced prostate cancer who have run out
of treatment options.
In a large study, men given the experimental drug, called cabazitaxel, lived
an average of just over 15 months, while those given standard chemotherapy
lived an average of nearly 13 months.
Living an extra two or three months might not sound like much, but all the
men had prostate cancer that had spread
throughout the body despite standard treatment, says study head Oliver Sartor,
MD, a cancer researcher at Tulane Cancer Center in New Orleans.
"These men really don't have other alternatives," Sartor tells
WebMD."They are only expected to live about a year.
Cabazitaxel more than doubled the number of men that lived for at least two
years."
As many as 20,000 men in the U.S. could benefit from the drug each year, he
says.
Men with earlier prostate cancer might benefit even more, says American
Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) spokesman Nicholas J. Vogelzang, MD, head
of developmental therapeutics at U.S. Oncology in Las Vegas.
"These are impressive results. Advances in cancer are almost always
incremental," he tells WebMD.
Vogelzang moderated a news briefing held in advance of the 2010
Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, sponsored by ASCO and two other major cancer
groups.




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