Prostate Cancer

There are several life-prolonging treatment options for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), but there isn’t a lot of information about patient experiences with these treatments. For a recent study, researchers interviewed patients to glean their perspectives on and experiences with life-prolonging treatments. “Given the severity of mCRPC, it is important to consider the possible negative effects of specific treatments on the patients’ [health-related quality of life] and weigh these against the desired positive effects,” the study authors explained. “Still, it has been shown that men with mCRPC lack enough information about the treatments and their possible impact of them on their life.” Sixteen men with mCRPC who were initiating (n=3), were undergoing (n=9), or just finished their first life-prolonging treatment (n=4) of either chemotherapy (Docetaxel, n=11) or hormone-regulating therapy (Abiraterone acetate, n=1; Enzalutamide, n=4) were intervi...

Read the Full Video Transcript Alicia Morgans:  Hi, my name is Alicia Morgans. I'm a GU medical oncologist and associate professor of medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, in the United States. I'm so excited to have here with me today, Dr. Karim Fizazi, who's a GU medical oncologist and a professor of oncology at Gustave Roussy in Paris, France. Thank you so much for being here with me today, Karim. Karim Fizazi:   Thank you, Alicia. Always a pleasure. Alicia Morgans:   Wonderful. So I wanted to speak with you a little bit about the AMG 160 presentation that was recently made at ESMO. And you are the anchor author on that presentation and certainly a lead investigator in the work. Can you tell us a little bit, before we get into the trial itself, what the BiTE platform is? So that folks from the GU oncology world can start to become more familiar. Karim Fizazi:   Sure. So BiTEs are indeed, new compounds, with basically two hands, if you will. For exa...

San Francisco, CA (UroToday.com) -- Doctors and biostatisticians at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center have led the development and validation of a staging system to better predict outcomes and inform treatment decisions for men diagnosed with non-metastatic prostate cancer. Although it is one of the most common cancers worldwide, prostate cancer remains one of the few major cancers for which the familiar, numerical staging system -; ranging from stage 1 to stage 4 -; has not been adopted into national guidelines for treatment or for the testing of new medicines in clinical trials. The new proposed system -; dubbed STAR-CAP -; which appears in JAMA Oncology, draws on patient, tumor and outcomes data from nearly 20,000 patients from 55 centers in the U.S., Canada and Europe to create a robust model with strong prognostic power. "Localized prostate cancer is sometimes less aggressive, sometimes more -; and whether we're patients, physicians or researchers, we all w...

Genomic characterization of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) has transformed the treatment of this disease. Molecularly defined subsets of mCRPC are transforming the treatment paradigm from therapies with nonspecific activity to targeted approaches. "To enable and sustain the advance of precision oncology in the management of mCRPC, genomic characterization is required, including somatic and germline testing, for all patients with the ultimate goal of longitudinal molecular profiling guiding treatment decisions and sequential treatments of this lethal disease," explained Benedito Carneiro, MD, of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and co-authors, writing in a review in the most recent ASCO Educational Book. In the following interview, Carneiro, director of Clinical Research and Cancer Drug Development at the Lifespan Cancer Institute of Rhode Island Hospital and associate director of the Division of Hematology/Oncology at Brown, discusses t...

Several life-prolonging treatment options have recently become available for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. However, research regarding patient experiences while undergoing these treatments is scarce. The aim was to explore the perspectives of men when facing life-prolonging treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 16 men as they were starting, undergoing or had completed their first life-prolonging treatment. Interpretive description was used for analysis. The results illuminate the complexity of facing life-prolonging treatment, with interlaced dimensions beyond just the outcome, and where the men described other dimensions of their lives in relation to the treatment. The results are presented as 4 themes; Considering treatment when the remainder of life is at stake, Preparing for the life-prolonging treatment after deciding to go through with it, Considering the prospect of the life-prolonging treatm...

Providing optimal care for cancer patients includes a patient-specific treatment strategy. Researchers from Rutgers University have identified human gene markers that lead to the development of metastatic prostate cancer or cancer that spreads past the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in men in the United States, and metastatic prostate cancer has a five-year survival rate of 30%. Exploring prostate cancer cells in both humans and mice, the Rutgers investigators found a connection between 16 genes that lead to metastasis development, which can introduce treatment challenges. These gene markers may be able to predict if a patient has a high probability of developing metastasis. The biomarkers were initially discovered via analyses of bone metastasis on mice, revealing distinct molecular profiles tied to patterns of subclonal branching from the primary tumor. Integrating those data from both mouse and human datasets with functional s...

There no racial differences in survival outcomes between Black and White patients with metastatic prostate cancer, according to a study published in Frontiers in Oncology.  In this retrospective study, researchers assessed 1,319,224 patients from the National Cancer Database (NCDB). The data were separted into three groupings based on the metastatic status: (1) no metastasis ( N  = 318,291), (2) bone metastasis ( N  = 29,639), and (3) metastases to locations other than bone, such as brain, liver, or lung ( N = 952). According to the researchers, survival probabilities of African American and white PCa patients with bone metastasis were examined through parametric proportional hazards Weibull models and Bayesian survival analysis. According to the results, the researchers did not find any statistically supported racial disparities among African American and white men with bone metastasis ( p =0.885), or liver, lung, or brain metastases. However, the researchers did ...

Oct. 19 (UPI) -- Scientists say they now may be able to identify men with prostate cancer at risk for it to spread, according to an article published Monday by the journal Nature Cancer. In their analysis of prostate cancer cells from people and mice, researchers from Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey found that a "collaboration among 16 genes" leads to metastasis, meaning that the cancer has spread to one or more other parts of the body. Advertisement The genes, or proteins, they identified can predict if a prostate cancer patient has a high probability of developing metastasis, including bone cancer, the researchers said. "People diagnosed with prostate cancer should now be screened for the protein markers [we] discovered to help determine their risk of developing metastatic prostate cancer," study co-author Antonina Mitrofanova, an assistant professor at the Rutgers School of Health Professions, said in a statement. Prostate cancer is the second l...

Read the Full Video Transcript Chris Wallis:   Hello, and thank you for joining us for this UroToday Journal Club. Today we're discussing a recent publication from the CARD trial entitled "Quality of life in patients with metastatic prostate cancer following treatment with cabazitaxel versus abiraterone or enzalutamide". This was a randomized multicenter open-label phase 4 trial. I'm Chris Wallis, a fellow in urologic oncology at Vanderbilt. And with me today is Zach Klaassen, an assistant professor in the division of urology at the Medical College of Georgia. This here is the citation we are discussing recently published in The Lancet Oncology. And so just for a little bit of background, you can see this recent figure from a publication with UroToday highlighting recent FDA approvals in metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer. And as you can tell, there's been a whole variety of changes in the last 15 years with a preponderance in the last 10 years. And s...

Read the Full Video Transcript Chris Wallis:   Hello, and thank you for joining us for this UroToday Journal Club. Today we're discussing a recent publication from the CARD trial entitled "Quality of life in patients with metastatic prostate cancer following treatment with cabazitaxel versus abiraterone or enzalutamide". This was a randomized multicenter open-label phase 4 trial. I'm Chris Wallis, a fellow in urologic oncology at Vanderbilt. And with me today is Zach Klaassen, an assistant professor in the division of urology at the Medical College of Georgia. This here is the citation we are discussing recently published in The Lancet Oncology. And so just for a little bit of background, you can see this recent figure from a publication with UroToday highlighting recent FDA approvals in metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer. And as you can tell, there's been a whole variety of changes in the last 15 years with a preponderance in the last 10 years. And ...

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc. Oct 8 2020 An international research team has discovered a principle that explains the metastasizing of prostate cancer. When cancer evolves within the prostate, multiple spatially intermixed cancer cell clones are created that may invade the organs surrounding the prostate. However, only one dominant cell clone spreads systemically in the body and creates metastases. In addition, new subcellular clones are often generated in metastases, which pass on to other metastases. The researchers also discovered that the routes through which the disease spreads also vary between patients. The genetic drivers occurring in cancer cell clones are likely to distinguish which sub-clones spread to the entire body and which are confined to the prostate within each patient. The study led by Professor of Cancer Pathology Steven Bova from Tampere University and Professor David Wedge from the University of Oxford was published in the prestigious Nature Communications...

Micrograph showing prostatic acinar adenocarcinoma (the most common form of prostate cancer) Credit: Wikipedia An international research team has discovered a principle that explains the metastasising of prostate cancer. When cancer evolves within the prostate, multiple spatially intermixed cancer cell clones are created that may invade the organs surrounding the prostate. However, only one dominant cell clone spreads systemically in the body and creates metastases. In addition, new subcellular clones are often generated in metastases, which pass on to other metastases. The researchers also discovered that the routes through which the disease spreads also vary between patients. The genetic drivers occurring in cancer cell clones are likely to distinguish which sub-clones spread to the entire body and which are confined to the prostate within each patient. The study led by Professor of Cancer Pathology Steven Bova from Tampere University and Professor David Wedge from the Unive...

PITTSBORO, N.C. , Oct. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Propella Therapeutics Inc. (Propella), a leader in the development of innovative best-in-class prescription products, today announced the issuance of a U.S. patent for a new drug treatment for metastatic prostate cancer. The patent covers new molecules that are designed to provide significant advantages over the current standard of care. The patent, titled , protects certain novel prodrugs. These are biologically inactive compounds that the body converts into the active pharmacological agent, abiraterone. "This patent protects our ability to develop and market safe, effective, and long-acting drugs for the treatment of metastatic prostate cancer and other conditions related to the overproduction of androgens," said Propella President and CEO William Moore , PhD. "This protection gives Propella and its investors further confidence to complete promising preclinical studies and file its Investigational New Drug (IND) applica...

(Albany, US) DelveInsight has launched a new report on Metastatic Prostate Cancer Epidemiology DelveInsight’s ‘ Metastatic Prostate Cancer Epidemiology Forecast to 2030′ report delivers an in-depth understanding of the disease, historical and forecasted Metastatic Prostate Cancer epidemiology in the 7MM, i.e., the United States, EU5 (Germany, Spain, Italy, France, and the United Kingdom), and Japan. Prostate cancer starts in the prostate gland–and is the second most common form of cancer in men. The cancer spreads, or metastasized, from the prostate to other areas of the body with the help of blood stream or lymphatic system, which results in the metastasis of tumor, leading to the development of Advanced Prostate Cancer. Castration-resistant prostate cancer is defined by a rising prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level and/or worsening symptoms and/or growing cancer verified by scans. If the cancer has not spread to other parts of the body, it is called “non-metastatic castration-res...

The mainstay of treatment for metastatic prostate cancer has long involved suppression of the hormones that fuel the disease, and that strategy can spark a remission that lasts many years. But in some cases, disease becomes resistant to these drugs and needs different modes of treatment. The good news is that the Food and Drug Administration recently approved two drugs that are new to prostate cancer treatment and could help nearly one-third of men with metastatic disease. In May, both Lynparza (olaparib) and Rubraca (rucaparib), known as poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors, were approved to treat men with DNA repair problems that either developed in their tumors or were inherited in their genetic codes. At that time, we explained how these drugs kill cancer cells by augmenting their existing DNA repair glitches, making it more difficult for the cells to fix themselves when damaged. PARP is a protein involved in DNA repair, and these drugs work by inhibiting its activity. ...

IMAGE:  Joaquin Mateo, Principal Investigator of the Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology's (VHIO) Prostate Cancer Translational Research Group. view more  Credit: VHIO Results from the PROfound phase III study, funded by AstraZeneca and Merck Sharp & Dohme, open up a much-needed new treatment avenue for the more precise and effective treatment of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) whose disease has progressed with hormonal therapy. The PROfound trial investigators show significantly longer overall survival of mCRPC patients with at least one alteration in BRCA1, BRCA2, or ATM genes, who received treatment with PARP inhibitor olaparib versus enzalutamide or abiraterone plus prednisone. Ringing in a new era of precision medicine to more effectively combat this lethal disease, it is the first time that a PARPi has shown an increased survival rate in a prospective clinical trial. PROfound also demonstrates the importance of incorpora...

(UroToday.com) Patients with newly-diagnosed metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer have a plethora of treatment options available. In addition to a number of systemic therapies, data from the HORRAD trial and STAMPEDE-RT have demonstrated a survival benefit to the addition of local, prostate-directed radiotherapy for men with low-volume metastatic disease. In a mini-oral presentation at this year’s European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting, Dr. Bo Dai presented the results of a phase II randomized trial assessing the role of local therapy to the prostate for men with newly diagnosed oligo-metastatic prostate cancer. The authors included patients with newly diagnosed oligometastatic prostate cancer (defined as no more than 5 bone metastases or extra-pelvic lymph node metastases and the absence of visceral metastases), aged 18 to 80 years, with ECOG performance status 0 or 1, without histologic evidence of neuroendocrine differentiation, any prio...