Conventional wisdom suggests that a high level of the protein prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in men with prostate cancer means a poor prognosis. However, this may not always be the case in men with a particular subtype of prostate cancer, according to a new study from Weill Cornell Medicine and...
On July 13, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved enzalutamide (Xtandi) for patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). This approval broadens the indicated patient population to include patients with either nonmetastatic CRPC or metastatic CRPC. Enzalutamide was ...
A major new study of more than 140,000 men has identified 63 new genetic variations in the DNA code that increase the risk of prostate cancer. These findings were published by Schumacher et al in Nature Genetics. Researchers devised a new test combining these single-letter genetic variants with...
Twenty-five years after it opened for enrollment, the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT) has delivered a final verdict: finasteride, a common hormone-blocking drug, reduces men's risk of getting prostate cancer without increasing their risk of dying from the disease. Initial study...
Data presented by Clarke et al at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 5003) showed clinical improvement in median radiologic progression-free survival with olaparib (Lynparza) in combination with abiraterone (Yonsa, Zytiga) compared to abiraterone monotherapy, a current standard of care, in...
Pirkko-Liisa Irmeli Kellokumpu-Lehtinen, MD, PhD, of Tampere University Hospital, discusses phase III findings on adjuvant docetaxel and surveillance after radical radiotherapy for intermediate- and high-risk prostate cancer (Abstract 5000).
Sumanta K. Pal, MD, of City of Hope, and A. Oliver Sartor, MD, of Tulane University School of Medicine, discuss the implications of findings on black and white patients with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer treated with abiraterone acetate and prednisone (Abstract LBA5009).
Sumanta K. Pal, MD, of the City of Hope, and Neeraj Agarwal, MD, of the Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, discuss the ongoing phase III Talapro-2 study of talazoparib with background enzalutamide in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer with DNA damage–repair deficiencies...
Susan Halabi, PhD, of Duke University Medical Center, discusses an analysis that showed an increase in overall survival in African American men vs Caucasian men, all of whom had metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer treated with docetaxel/prednisone or a regimen containing those agents...
Daniel J. George, MD, of Duke University, discusses findings from a multicenter study of black and white patients with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer treated with abiraterone acetate and prednisone (Abstract LBA5009).
An analysis of pooled data from 9 randomized phase III trials of more than 8,000 men with advanced prostate cancer who received chemotherapy shows chances of survival are as good for black men as white men. The median survival was the same in black men and white men overall (21 months), but black...
In a prospective clinical trial of 100 men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, the response to the hormone treatment abiraterone (Yonsa, Zytiga) was greater and longer-lasting in black men than in white men. Black men were more likely to have a decline in prostate-specific antigen ...
New diagnostic tests for prostate cancer, as well as new information about the impact of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendations on prostate cancer screening, were presented at the 113th Annual Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA). PSA Screening of African American...
A post-hoc analysis from the phase III SPARTAN study that showed treatment with apalutamide (Erleada) significantly reduced the risk of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) progression in patients with nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) who had a rapidly rising PSA while receiving ...
Use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the diagnosis of prostate cancer is increasing and brings added value to screening and surveillance, according to new studies presented this year during the 113th Annual Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA). Four studies highlighting the...
Researchers presented new findings on a Korean Food and Drug Administration (KFDA)-approved robotic system, safety of testosterone therapy after prostate cancer, and active surveillance protocol for low-risk prostate cancer patients at the 113th Annual Meeting of the American Urological Association ...
A multicenter study that validated the clinical performance of IsoPSA—a new blood test that has proven to be more accurate in predicting overall risk of prostate cancer than standard prostate-specific antigen (PSA)—was presented at the 13th Annual Meeting of the American Urological...
Radiotherapy given in high doses over a shorter period of time is safe and effective for patients with prostate cancer, according to research from a phase III trial presented at the European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO) 37 Conference (Abstract OC-0599). The...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Michael J. Morris, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Weill Cornell Medicine, and colleagues, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline on optimizing anticancer therapy in men with metastatic noncastrate prostate cancer. To...
James L. Mohler, MD, of Roswell Park Cancer Institute, discusses personalized medicine, molecular risk stratification, and better androgen-deprivation therapy for men with prostate cancer.
A large international study has shown that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can reduce the number of invasive prostate biopsies by up to 28%. The PRECISION trial showed that using MRI to target prostate biopsies leads to more harmful and fewer harmless prostate cancers being diagnosed. The results...
A major UK survey has shown that patients with urologic cancer—such as prostate, bladder, or kidney cancer—are five times more likely to commit suicide than people without cancer. The analysis also shows that patients with cancer generally are around three times more likely to commit...
On March 19, a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for enzalutamide (Xtandi) was accepted for filing and granted Priority Review designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). If approved, the sNDA would expand the indication of enzalutamide to include men with nonmetastatic...
A new study found many men receiving prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing do so without a comprehensive shared decision-making process, contrary to current guidelines. The American Cancer Society study, published by Fedewa et al in Annals of Family Medicine, found that in both 2010 and 2015,...
An Italian study featured in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine demonstrates that a novel nuclear medicine imaging agent targeting copper accumulation in tumors can detect prostate cancer recurrence early in patients with biochemical relapse (ie, rising prostate-specific antigen [PSA] level). Copper...
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) researchers have discovered that a combination of high doses of radiotherapy and hormonal therapy provides the best chance of decreasing the mortality rate in men with aggressive prostate cancer. The findings, published by Kishan et al in JAMA, also...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved apalutamide (Erleada) for the treatment of patients with prostate cancer that has not spread, but that continues to grow despite treatment with hormone therapy. This is the first FDA-approved treatment for nonmetastatic,...
Eric J. Small, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco, discusses phase III findings on apalutamide vs placebo in patients with nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (Abstract 161).
Paul L. Nguyen, MD, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, summarizes a session he chaired on prostate cancer, which included discussion of daily vs weekly image-guided radiotherapy; a biomarker to predict biochemical failure and metastasis; a comparison of abiraterone or enzalutamide activity; and...
Fatima Karzai, MD, of the National Institutes of Health, discusses phase II findings on olaparib and durvalumab in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer in an unselected population (Abstract 163).
Nicholas D. James, MBBS, PhD, of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, discusses study findings on the addition of docetaxel to first-line hormone therapy in prostate cancer, an analysis focusing on cost-effectiveness and long-term and quality-adjusted survival (Abstract 162).
Maha Hussain, MD, of Northwestern University, discusses phase III findings on enzalutamide in men with nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (Abstract 3).
Robert G. Bristow, MD, PhD, of Manchester Cancer Research Centre, discusses germline and somatic mutations; new ways to generate biomarkers that may describe tumor complexity; and how, in the future, this information may help triage patients with aggressive prostate tumors to intensified treatments.
Results from the phase III PROSPER trial in patients with nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer were presented by Hussain et al at the 2018 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium (Abstract 3). The results show that the use of enzalutamide (Xtandi) plus androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT)...
On February 7, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) tablets in combination with prednisone for metastatic high-risk castration-sensitive prostate cancer. The FDA initially approved abiraterone acetate with prednisone in 2011 for patients with...
Using nuclear medicine, German researchers may have found a way to accurately differentiate cancerous tissue from healthy tissue in prostate cancer patients. The research is highlighted in findings published by Rahbar et al in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. These new findings demonstrate that...
A new analysis of the ongoing STAMPEDE clinical trial found that adding docetaxel to hormone therapy for advanced prostate cancer improves quality of life and lowers the need for subsequent therapy. Docetaxel was also found to be cost-effective. These findings will be presented by James et al at...
Findings from the phase III placebo-controlled SPARTAN trial suggest that apalutamide is an effective treatment for men with nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who are at high risk for developing metastatic disease and for whom no approved treatments exist. Men who received...
Among men with prostate cancer who underwent radical prostatectomy, those who were obese had a higher risk of biochemical recurrence, according to data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Special Conference on Obesity and Cancer: Mechanisms Underlying Etiology and...
James L. Gulley, MD, PhD, of the National Cancer Institute, discusses combined treatment approaches showing early evidence of clinical activity: agents such as vaccines or PARP inhibitors that can initiate an immune response, paired with agents such as checkpoint inhibitors that can facilitate the...
Compared with the non-Hispanic white (NHW) population, the urban American Indian and Alaskan Native (AIAN) community was more likely to have lower survival rates following invasive prostate and breast cancer, according to a new study by Emerson et al in Cancer Research. “It’s been...
Establishing the way in which a genetic alteration called a TMPRSS2-ERG gene fusion forms in a prostate cancer, rather than the presence of the gene fusion itself, could help identify patients with prostate cancer with a low risk of spreading, which might determine the best course of treatment for...
William A. Hall, MD, of the Medical College of Wisconsin, discusses trial findings on androgen deprivation and radiation alone, compared with androgen deprivation, radiotherapy, and surgery in men with high-risk, nonmetastatic adenocarcinoma of the prostate (Abstract 15).
Gerard Morton, MD, of Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre, summarizes a session that included discussion of late toxicities of radiotherapy for locally recurrent prostate cancer; using chemotherapy instead of radiation in early-stage seminoma; radiotherapy vs surgery plus radiotherapy in Gleason score...
Tamim Niazi, MDCM, of McGill University, discusses phase III study findings on hypofractionated, dose-escalation radiation therapy for high-risk adenocarcinoma of the prostate (Abstract 281).
A new study finds that immune response in prostate cancer may be able to forecast how patients will respond to radiation therapy, as well as their likelihood of disease recurrence and survival outcomes. The analysis of more than 9,000 prostate tumors also found evidence that programmed cell death...
Juanita Crook, MD, of the University of British Columbia, discusses late toxicity findings on transperineal ultrasound–guided brachytherapy for locally recurrent prostate cancer after external-beam radiation therapy (Abstract 1).
Patients with high-risk prostate cancer starting long-term hormone therapy may benefit from two new treatments, according to late-breaking results from the STAMPEDE trial presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid (LBA31_PR). Long-term hormone therapy...
Cora N. Sternberg, MD, of the San Camillo Forlanini Hospital, summarizes a session on the STAMPEDE and LATITUDE trials, as well as a third trial on docetaxel with androgen suppression for localized prostate cancer patients who relapsed after radical prostatectomy and/or radiotherapy (Abstracts...
Men with localized prostate cancer who received androgen-deprivation therapy were at significantly higher risk of heart failure than men who did not receive this therapy, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published by Haque et al in the British Journal of Cancer. In the past,...