Drug May Offer Hope For Fight Against Prostate Cancer

Posted on August 7, 2008

A BBC article says a new drug could be a major breakthrough in treating aggressive prostate cancer. A pill could possibly be available in 2 to 3 years. The drug works by blocking certain hormones.

Scientists are hailing a new drug to treat aggressive prostate cancer as potentially the most significant advance in the field for 70 years.
Abiraterone could potentially treat up to 80% of patients with a deadly form of the disease resistant to currently available chemotherapy, they say.
The drug works by blocking the hormones which fuel the cancer.
The Institute of Cancer Research hopes a simple pill form will be available in two to three years.

10,000 men a year in the UK alone are diagnosed with the deadly aggressive form of the disease. A small clinical test had many patients reporting a significant improvement in quality of life and some were able to stop taking morphine.

There is also hope the drug called abiraterone will help with other cancers such as breast cancer. More research still needs to be done to determine what the side effects of abiraterone are.