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Pill for prostate cancer
Atrasentan reduces the risk of advanced hormone-resistant prostate cancer by 20 per cent.
Recent clinical studies led by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have found that a drug called atrasentan reduces the risk of advanced hormone-resistant prostate cancer by 20 per cent.
"Treatment options remain limited for patients whose prostate cancer has spread and does not respond to hormone therapy, and some of these men are looking for less toxic alternatives than chemotherapy at this point in their lives," Michael Carducci, associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, said.
"Atrasentan can help prevent their pain and may potentially postpone when they need more aggressive treatments like chemotherapy or radiation," he added.
Combined results of the international clinical trials, which spanned three years and enrolled more than one thousand men, showed an approximately 20 percent decrease in the chance that their cancer will progress in those who took atrasentan daily versus a placebo.
Part of a new trend in cancer treatment, known as "targeted therapy," atrasentan blocks a protein called endothelin, which is secreted in excess amounts by prostate cancer cells. Endothelin promotes cancer cell growth and stimulates new bone formation where prostate cancer cells have spread to bone sites.
Carducci plans to continue studies of atrasentan in patients whose cancer has not spread and in combination with other drugs that block growth factors. He adds that atrasentan could potentially be an option after second-line hormonal therapy or when patients are waiting to begin chemotherapy.
Hopkins and other centers nationwide will study the drug in patients with brain, renal cell, ovarian and lung cancers.
The identification of endothelin and its role in prostate cancer as a potential target for therapy led to the development of atrasentan and was first described nine years ago in Hopkins laboratories through a specialized program of research excellence (SPORE) grant from the National Cancer Institute.
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