Prostate Cancer

Sumit K. Subudhi Despite the success of immunotherapy in the treatment of patients with advanced malignancies, responses in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer have been limited. Cancers such as melanoma and lung cancer that respond well to immune checkpoint inhibitors have high levels of underlying genetic mutations. Neoantigens produced as a result of these mutations may lead to an immune response. Prostate cancer has relatively few underlying mutations and produces fewer neoantigens. However, in a phase 2 trial published in Science T ranslational Medicine, researchers identified common biomarkers among men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who responded favorably to the CTLA-4 inhibitor ipilimumab (Yervoy, Bristol-Myers Squibb). “Previous studies have put that number [of responders] at between 5% and 15% with immune checkpoint therapy,” Sumit K. Subudhi, MD, PhD, assistant professor of genitourinary medical oncology at The University of Te...

May 12, 2020 — The novel radiopharmaceutical 18F-PSMA-1007 is both effective and readily available for detecting malignant prostate cancer lesions, according to research published in the April issue of  The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.  With this new option and 68Ga-PSMA-11, which is already widely used, nuclear medicine departments will have two effective options for staging of prostate cancer, potentially increasing availability for patients worldwide. 68Ga-PSMA is the most commonly used PSMA-labeled tracer in clinical practice for evaluating extent of disease in prostate cancer patients. However, it is produced by a specific generator and has a short half-life of 68 minutes. "The newly introduced 18F-PSMA-1007 has several advantages over the established 68Ga-PSMA," stated Einat Even-Sapir, M.D., Ph.D., director of The Institute for Nuclear Medicine at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv, Israel. "These include a longer half-life, favorable pharmacokineti...

IMAGE:  Maximum-intensity projections, transaxial fusion, and PET images of 18F-PSMA1007 (A-C) and 68Ga-PSMA-11 (D-F) PET/CT scans of 67-y-old patient with GS 8 and PSA 4.9 ng/mL. Marked uptake is seen in... view more  Credit: Images created by J. Kuten et al., Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel. The novel radiopharmaceutical 18F-PSMA-1007 is both effective and readily available for detecting malignant prostate cancer lesions, according to research published in the April issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. With this new option and 68Ga-PSMA-11, which is already widely used, nuclear medicine departments will have two effective options for staging of prostate cancer, potentially increasing availability for patients worldwide. 68Ga-PSMA is the most commonly used PSMA-labeled tracer in clinical practice for evaluating extent of disease in prostate cancer patients. However, it is produced by a specific generator and has a short half-life of 68 minute...

The East Brunswick Public Library’s Lunch ’n’ Learn with the Doctor Series will feature Cancer During COVID: Prostate Cancer from noon to 1 p.m. today, May 8, with Dr. Edward Soffen, radiation oncologist with Princeton Radiation Oncology, and Dr. Phillip Reid, medical oncologist with Regional Care Cancer Associates, Central Jersey. Topics include evaluating suspected cancer, postponing biopsy and staging workup, treatment options, addressing when patients need immediate treatment, recommendations during COVID for hormonal therapy, recommendations for timing of radiation treatment during COVID, and addressing disease reoccurrence. Space is limited so register at https://ift.tt/2WgdwEc. You will receive a link to the discussion.

Image copyright Stuart Fraser Image caption Stuart is now taking one of the treatments at home Men with advanced prostate cancer can take highly targeted hormone therapies at home instead of coming into hospital for chemotherapy, NHS England says. Experts say it will relieve pressure on the NHS, which wants all urgent and essential cancer treatments to continue during the coronavirus pandemic. The drugs are also smarter, kinder treatments and could extend the lives of many more patients, they say. This precision-medicine approach is already used to treat other cancers. 'Huge shock' Diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer in February, Stuart Fraser, 66, from Ashtead, in Surrey, will now take four enzalutamide tablets a day. "Being diagnosed was a huge shock," he said. "What made it even more worrying was that, because of coronavirus, I was told I couldn't have the usual treatment of chemotherapy, which would have affected my immune system. ...

Obesity was associated with increased cardiovascular disease-related mortality and all-cause mortality, as well as potentially increased prostate cancer-specific mortality, in survivors of nonmetastatic prostate cancer.   Obesity was associated with increased cardiovascular disease-related mortality and all-cause mortality, as well as potentially increased prostate cancer-specific mortality, in survivors of nonmetastatic prostate cancer, according to data published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology . “Our results suggest that among survivors of nonmetastatic prostate cancer, postdiagnosis obesity may be associated with higher (cardiovascular disease-related mortality) and all-cause mortality and that postdiagnosis weight gain may be associated with a higher mortality as a result of all causes and prostate cancer,” the authors wrote. To identify associations of postdiagnosis body mass index (BMI) and weight change with cause-specific and all-cause mortality in patients with no...

Epidemiological characteristics of prostate cancer patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in Veneto, treated with or without androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) Credit: Annals of Oncology A study of 4532 men in the Veneto region of Italy has found that those who were being treated for prostate cancer with androgen-deprivation therapies (ADT) were less likely to develop the coronavirus COVID-19 and, if they were infected, the disease was less severe. The authors of the study, published in the leading cancer journal Annals of Oncology today, say their findings suggest ADT appears to protect men from COVID-19 infection. The researchers, led by Professor Andrea Alimonti, from the Università della Svizzera Italiana (Bellinzona, Switzerland), found that out 4532 men infected with COVID-19, 9.5% (430) had cancer and 2.6% (118) had prostate cancer. Male cancer patients had a 1.8-fold increased risk of COVID-19 infection out of the whole male population and developed more severe ...