Hormone Therapy

The landmark Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial has delivered a final verdict. Finasteride, a common hormone-blocking drug, reduces mens’ risk of getting prostate cancer without increasing their risk of dying from the disease. Initial study findings suggested there may be a link between use of the drug and a more lethal form of prostate cancer, but long-term follow-up shows that is not true. Read the article here.

For men with metastatic prostate cancer there is no survival advantage for aggressive therapy over conservative androgen deprivation therapy only, according to a study. Read the article here.

A drug used to treat enlarged prostate or hair loss in men has been shown to have a long-term protective effect against prostate cancer. Read the article here.

Abiraterone acetate is poised to challenge docetaxel as the standard addition to androgen deprivation therapy for treatment of newly diagnosed, metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Read the article here.

A new study suggests that combining a breast cancer drug with hormone therapy could be a more effective strategy to reduce the progression and recurrence of prostate cancer in men. Read the article here.

Adding abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) plus prednisone to standard hormonal therapy for men newly diagnosed with high-risk, metastatic prostate cancer lowers the chance of death by 38%. In a phase III clinical trial of 1,200 men, abiraterone also more than doubled the median time until the cancer worsened, from 14.8 months to 33 months. Read the article here.

A small Canadian company has waded into a U.S. drug price controversy by offering to make an expensive prostate cancer drug for a fraction of the price. Right now Xtandi costs U.S. patients as much as $129,000 US a year, or about $90 per pill. St. Catharines, Ont.-based Biolyse Pharma says it can make the drug for $3 a pill, or $4,400 per year, but has so far been unable to get U.S. health authorities to override the existing patent. Read the article here.

Reducing testosterone levels with androgen deprivation therapy, or A.D.T., is a common treatment for prostate cancer. But a new study has found that it more than doubles the risk of dementia. Read the article here.