More Good News for Patients
Abiraterone, 4th New Drug for Prostate Cancer is Approved in 12 Months
In the past few months I have often said there is no better time to be a prostate cancer patient than now. In my position here at the Prostate Cancer Foundation, I have uttered this statement with enthusiasm and a bit of pride. As a patient, I have said it with a healthy portion of relief and a prayer of thanksgiving for progress. Not that I want to ever need any of these new drugs, but, as I grapple with my disease and the ever present possibility of recurrence, I am reassured that these new treatments will be ready and waiting for me and my medical team if and when I need them.
To recap, the four new drugs are: Provenge (the first ever immunotherapy for the disease); Cabazitaxel, an advanced chemotherapy agent also known as Jevtana; Denusomab, marketed as Xgeva for bone health during androgen dperivatrion tehrapy; and now, Abiraterone (Zytiga). Approved just yesterday by the FDA, Abiraterone has been in development since the 1990s and will be utilized for the treatment of castration-resistant, metastatic prostate cancer following docetaxel chemotherapy. It’s a clinical break-through for patients who previously had few good clinical therapies available to them.
During Phase III clinical studies, patient response was so encouraging that those patients who were taking the placebo were given the option of switching to the drug. Good news indeed for so many.
You can read more about Abiraterone here.
Here’s to progress. Here’s to better outcomes.
