Comparing Xofigo to Provenge is a factor that men with prostate cancer may have to consider. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new medication, Xofigo (radium-223 dichloride), for late stage castration-resistant prostate cancer on May 15, 2013. With this new addition of medication on the market, prostate cancer patients will want to ask…
Xofigo compared to Xtandi is an evaluation that may mean that men with prostate cancer have another treatment option to consider. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new medication, Xofigo (radium-223 dichloride), for late-stage castration-resistant prostate cancer on May 15, 2013. With this new addition of medication on the market, prostate cancer patients…
Among men who have high-risk prostate cancer, the combination of hormone therapy and radiation therapy has been shown to improve overall survival. A new study, however, shows that hormone therapy may increase the risk of death in men with prostate cancer who also have pre-existing heart disease. The 15-year study (1991-2006) included 14,594 men with…
If your prostate cancer has spread outside of the prostate then you will need to look at your metastatic prostate cancer treatment options. While most prostate cancer is diagnosed and treated while the disease is localized to the prostate, some men are diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer treatment initially and need treatment for that. Other…
The Provenge FDA approval in April of 2010 increases doctors’ options for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer. Most patients eventually experience some sort of progression or are diagnosed with advanced disease before receiving Provenge. Provenge (sipuleucel-T) is generally not indicated as a first-line treatment for prostate cancer. Rather, Provenge will usually follow later either due…
High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a radiation-free therapy that has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for prostate tissue ablation, which means it can be used to treat prostate cancer, although the approval is not specifically for that. Thus far, two types of HIFU systems have garnered the FDA’s okay: the Sonablate 450 (approved…
Prostate cancer treatment does not need to be scary, but it can be confusing. It is important to learn everything you can about what prostate cancer is, the risk factors, and treatment options so that you can be an active participant in your treatment decision making. This is essential because treatment in early stages of…
Prostate cancer survival does not improve when men use finasteride (Proscar), according to a new study. However, finasteride is still associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer. What is finasteride? Finasteride is one of the commonly prescribed drugs for BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia, or an enlarged prostate). Proscar is a 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor, which means…
Provenge is a recently approved therapy for advanced prostate cancer that is tailored to your specific cancer. Brief overview of the Provenge procedure The Provenge procedure involves the harvesting of your immune cells, a special treatment of those cells, and then a reinfusion of the specially treated cells. Your immune cells are collected through a…
A new prostate cancer treatment may be on its way. An anticancer compound discovered by researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute could lead to a new prostate cancer treatment for patients with advanced prostate cancer. The new compound, called SMIP004, holds promise because it appears to kill prostate cancer cells while sparing normal cells. “For…
Prostate cancer is a slow-growing disease associated with aging, though younger men may develop more aggressive forms. Another process also associated with aging is dementia, which means declining mental and cognitive function. The incidence of both conditions begins to increase from age 65 onward. The most common treatment recommended for men with low-to-intermediate risk prostate…
Your doctor has just given you the diagnosis: prostate cancer. Now is the time to learn as much as you can about your treatment options and then, with guidance from your physicians, make a decision that’s best for you. Generally there is no right answer for the best prostate cancer treatment because good data from well-run…
For men who are contemplating treatment for prostate cancer, one of their main worries is the impact of such therapy on sexual function, specifically erectile dysfunction. This concern is the focus of a new multicenter clinical trial that will be led by physicians at UT Southwestern, which will test a new radiation treatment that will…
The Provenge survival rate can be predicted by PSA levels and symptom severity before starting treatment. The data show that if you are considering immunotherapy with Provenge (sipuleucel-T) for advanced prostate cancer, then the sooner you can get treatment the better your survival rate. A lower PSA before treatment seems to lead to a longer…
In up to 40 percent of men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer and undergo therapy, the disease spreads (metastasizes) and develops into advanced prostate cancer. For those who have tried and failed to respond to androgen-deprivation therapy (also known as failure to respond to castration-resistant prostate cancer), there are other treatment options, including Xtandi…
Xtandi for prostate cancer treatment joins the growing list of drugs designed for men who have advanced prostate cancer. On August 31, 2012, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Xtandi (enzalutamide) for men who have advanced prostate cancer that has spread (metastasized) or recurred despite treatment with hormone therapy and chemotherapy with docetaxel. Xtandi…
Radical prostatectomy is a surgical procedure used as a treatment for prostate cancer. This procedure involves the complete removal of the prostate gland, the seminal vesicles, and, in some cases, the lymph nodes that surround the prostate gland to ensure the entire malignancy is removed and there is no chance for recurrence. Types of Radical…
It’s not often that the monitoring committee during a Phase III trial ends the study early because the drug has performed so well, but that’s what happened with the new prostate cancer drug, Alpharadin. The investigators report that men with metastatic, hormone-resistant prostate cancer lived a median of three months longer when taking Alpharadin. Alpharadin…
Prostate cancer vaccines are a novel therapy for castration-resistant metastatic prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among U.S. men. According to the American Cancer Society, 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime and 1 in 36 will die from prostate cancer. In 2013,…
Watchful waiting and active surveillance are two terms that are often bandied about when discussing prostate cancer treatment. But are watchful waiting and active surveillance the same thing or do they refer to different ways to approach prostate cancer? Despite a tendency to dismiss these two treatment approaches as being the same, those with a…
