NewsChannel5.com | Nashville News, Weather & SportsNew Treatment Starves Prostate Cancer

New Treatment Starves Prostate Cancer

LAS VEGAS - Although prostate cancer is the second most common type of cancer in men, it tends to be slow-growing. A new treatment kills prostate cancer by cutting off the tumor's food supply.

Doctors said it's a cancer men are more likely to die with not from. Although prostate cancer is the second most common type in men, it tends to be slow-growing.

Most treatments zap, freeze or poison it. Now, there's a new treatment that kills prostate cancer by cutting off the tumor's food supply.  

George Patow's life revolves around two things. His dog alley and his doctor - both keep him going. 

"I actually got her two weeks after I was told I have cancer. She takes care of me. I take care of her," said Patow. 

Patow was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer three years ago. Despite aggressive drugs and chemo, his cancer kept growing. 

"I was running out of options," explained Patow. 

"The vast majority of patients usually end up resistant to therapy," said Oscar B. Goodman, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., with the Nevada Cancer Institute. 

Patow found oncologist Oscar Goodman Jr. and a new drug that starves cancer from the inside - out. 

"This drug prevents hormonal pathways from being activated in cancer cells," said Dr. Goodman. 

Prostate cancer feeds on the hormone testosterone. The drug being tested in a clinical trial, MDV 3100, interrupts this "food supply" - literally starving the cancer to death. George takes 10 pills a day. His PSA dropped from 1,400 to 377.

"It's brought me a lot of hope," said Patow. 

Hope for the first time, in a long time. 

Dr. Goodman said the latest studies predict the number of men fighting prostate cancer will double in the next 20 years. Dozens of hospitals and oncology clinics across the country are participating in the MDV-3100 clinical trial. Cancer patients whose tumors didn't respond to chemo may be eligible. 

RESEARCH SUMMARY

BACKGROUND: MDV3100 is the first triple-acting, oral anti-androgen in development for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer. The treatment of advanced prostate cancer represents a critical unmet medical need, as patients with this stage of the disease have few treatment options and a poor prognosis.

THE DRUG: MDV3100 is unlike that of the leading hormonal therapy known as bicalutamide. The first triple-acting, oral anti-androgen (MDV3100) has been shown in preclinical studies to provide a more complete suppression of the androgen receptor pathway than bicalutamide. MDV3100 slows growth and induces cell death in bicalutamide-resistant cancers via three complementary actions: MDV3100 blocks testosterone binding to the androgen receptor, impedes movement of the androgen receptor to the nucleus of prostate cancer cells (nuclear translocation), and inhibits binding to DNA. 

CLINICAL TRIAL: In a Phase I-II study, the interim results showed that MDV3100 was associated with anti-tumor activity in patients who had become resistant to standard anti-androgen treatments, including both patients who had failed prior chemotherapy and patients who were chemotherapy naïve. Anti-tumor activity was demonstrated by reductions in prostate-specific antigen levels, improvement or stabilization in tumors that had spread to soft tissue or bone, and a decrease in circulating tumor cells, which has been associated in published literature with improved survival in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer. The Phase III AFFIRM trial is currently enrolling men with castration-resistant prostate cancer who were previously treated with docetaxel-based chemotherapy.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: 

Affirm Prostate Cancer Clinical Trial
(888) 782-3256
http://www.affirmtrial.com