Cancer Research Lab

The selective estrogen receptor modulator toremifene significantly increases bone mineral density and improves lipid profiles in men receiving androgen deprivation therapy for advanced prostate cancer.

That’s according to two planned interim analyses of an ongoing multicenter study presented today in Orlando at The Prostate Cancer Symposium, co-sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology, and the Society of Urologic Oncology.

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The investigational oral platinum drug satraplatin, in combination with prednisone, prolongs progression-free survival of patients with hormone-refractory prostate cancer who have failed either docetaxel or non-docetaxel-containing chemotherapeutic regimens.

The findings are based on phase III data reported Friday in Orlando at The Prostate Cancer Symposium, co-sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology, and the Society of Urologic Oncology.

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An analysis of men with early prostate cancer treated at the Cleveland Clinic found that those treated with external beam radiation therapy had poorer overall survival than those treated with radioactive seed implants (brachytherapy) or radical prostatectomy. The findings persisted after controlling for potentially confounding factors such as age, comorbidities, and smoking history.

“These findings indicate that the three major forms of treatment for early-stage prostate cancer are not necessarily equivalent in terms of overall survival,” said Dr. Jay Ciezki of the Cleveland Clinic in a statement. He presented the results Saturday in Orlando at the at The Prostate Cancer Symposium, co-sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology, and the Society of Urologic Oncology.

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The current American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system for prostate cancer does not incorporate tumor classification, pretreatment prostate specific antigen (pPSA) level or Gleason score (GS) and therefore does not include information that is needed to make decisions on appropriate treatment options, according to investigators writing in the January 15th issue of Cancer.

Dr. Mack Roach of the University of California at San Francisco and colleagues used multivariate analyses to create a Cox proportional hazards model in 912 men with localized prostate cancer who had received external beam radiation therapy between 1987 and 1998.

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In a small minority of patients, prostate cancer may progress despite undetectable or low serum levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA), according to Houston-based researchers.

In the January 15th issue of Cancer, Dr. Dan Leibovici and colleagues at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer note that PSA level after definitive treatment for prostate cancer is a powerful predictor of outcome. However, this is not invariably the case.

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Pertuzumab, an inhibitor of human epidermal growth factor dimerization, extends survival in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) that progresses on taxane-based chemotherapy, according to a report in the February 20th Journal of Clinical Oncology.

“Targeted therapy is exciting and offers significant promise,” Dr. David B. Agus from Cedars-Sinai Prostate Cancer Center, Los Angeles, California said.

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Both radical prostatectomy and radiotherapy appear to result in significantly higher survival rates compared with conservative management in patients with clinically localized prostate cancer, according to the results of a large study conducted at the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit.

Dr. Ashutosh Tewari, of New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City, and colleagues studied 3,159 men, who were 75 years of age or younger with biopsy-confirmed, clinically localized prostate cancer, treated between 1980 and 1997.

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Men whose prostate specific antigen (PSA) concentration remains elevated often undergo multiple prostate biopsies without finding any evidence of prostate cancer. Now, the results of a pilot study suggest that 6 months’ treatment with finasteride can help differentiate patients with prostate cancer because the drug reduces PSA density far more among those free of cancer.

Dr. Steven I. Cohen and his associates note that approximately 70% of prostate biopsies are unnecessary, but there is no consensus on how to manage men who have had multiple biopsies with negative results, but continue to have elevated PSA levels.

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The incidence of prostate cancer among men with schizophrenia is lower than in the general population, according to findings published in the December issue of Urology.

“Lower than expected rates of cancer, in general, have been reported for psychiatric patients for almost a century,” writes Dr. E. Fuller Torrey, of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland.

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Autologous blood transfusion (ABT) does not increase the risk of biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy (RP), according to a report in the December issue of BJU International.

Previous reports have suggested that blood transfusion contributes to unfavorable outcomes in such cancers as esophageal, colon, and breast cancer, the authors explain, but results of studies on the effects of blood transfusion in the context of RP have been mixed.

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