Prostate Cancer New Drug

Prostate cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death among men in the U.S. It was diagnosed in more than 180,000 men and claimed the lives of more than 28,000 men in the U.S. last year.
The novel agent, called abiraterone, shrank tumors by 30% or more in one-fourth of 31 patients whose prostate cancer continued to spread despite standard hormone therapy. In an additional 35% of men, tumors stopped growing.
The researchers also used PSA levels to evaluate abiraterone's effectiveness. PSA levels are a measure of a protein called prostate-specific antigen, which is produced by cells in the prostate. High PSA levels can signal cancer. The National Cancer Institute views a response to treatment as being seen when there is at least a 50% decline in PSA blood level.
After 12 weeks of treatment, abiraterone reduced PSA levels by 50% or more in 71% of the men. In two men, PSA fell to undetectable levels.
"This is currently the most promising prostate cancer drug on the horizon," says ASCO spokesman Howard Sandler, MD, chairman of radiation oncology at the Samuel Oschin Cancer Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
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