Prostate Cancer

Doctors are taught to think through medical decisions by listing a series of options, weighing the risks and benefits of each, and ultimately concluding on the superior option. This comparative maximization approach is drilled into us as medical students and residents.

Christopher Sweeney, MBBS, medical oncologist, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the future of prostate cancer research.

Dendreon, the maker of the first FDA-approved immunotherapy for advanced prostate cancer, sipuleucel-T (Provenge), has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Access to radium-223 dichloride has been restored following a temporary suspension in production by its manufacturer Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals to adjust its manufacturing process to meet certain quality standards that the company has in place.

Despite being discovered more than 150 years ago, tumor cells present in the blood of patients with cancer are only now inspiring significant research efforts. Technological advancements have allowed the isolation and enrichment of these rare cells and, as potential metastatic "emissaries," they have significant potential for improving the detection and treatment of advanced and possibly even early-stage disease.

A round-up of new drugs that are being investigated as treatments for genitourinary cancers.

Over the past 6 months, we have had two studies that will profoundly affect our management of advanced prostate cancer patients.

Despite the promise associated with biomarker-based tools as a means of helping to guide cancer diagnosis and treatment, there is a potential stumbling block: insurance reimbursement.

Production of the prostate cancer drug radium-223 has been temporarily suspended by its maker, Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, due to a manufacturing problem.

The prostate cancer team at the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center has recently focused on two primary areas: minimally invasive care and clinical research.

Emmanuel S. Antonarakis, MBBCh, assistant professor, Johns Hopkins Medicine, discusses AR-V7 and resistance to AR-targeting agents in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).

Eduardo Fernandez, MD, PhD, FACRO, Senior Vice President, Medical Affairs / Medical Director for Latin America, Radiation Oncologist, 21st Century Oncology, discusses the potential for immunotherapy and radiation therapy to be used together to treat prostate cancer.

Androgen receptor splice variant-7 (AR-V7) is a truncated form of the AR that does not have the ligand-binding domain. Detection of AR-V7 in circulating tumor cells (CTCs) can be used to predict resistance to AR-targeting agents, such as abiraterone or enzalutamide.

In a recent guideline for the treatment of men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) shared their thoughts on the implementation of six drugs approved since their previous recommendations were issued in 2007, as well as on older drugs.

The combination of abiraterone acetate and prednisone has demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in overall survival (OS) for men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) who had not received prior treatment with chemotherapy

Daniel P. Petrylak, MD, Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology) and of Urology, Professor and Co-Director, Signal Transduction Research Program, Yale Cancer Center, discusses results from the phase II STRIDE study.