New
Service for TodaysSeniorsNetwork.com
readers...roll mouse over, click on
highlighted links in stories to review items
from Amazon
Now, keep up to date
with daily feeds of newly posted stories
about America's Seniors...click on the box
to the left
New treatment for advanced Prostate Cancer
Newswise — Researchers at the
University of Adelaide have developed a
novel approach to treating advanced prostate
cancer that could be more effective with
fewer side effects.
Professor Wayne Tilley and Dr
Lisa Butler of the University’s Dame Roma
Mitchell Cancer Research Laboratories have
discovered that by using existing prostate
cancer drugs in combination with new drugs
at lower doses, they can expect to generate
better results for patients than current
treatments.
Growth of prostate cancer is
initially dependent on hormones called
androgens, which traditionally have been
suppressed to stop tumour growth. However,
despite an initial response, resistance to
hormone deprivation often occurs and the
tumour starts to grow again, Professor
Tilley says.
“Men undergoing hormone
deprivation therapy can also experience
significant side effects, including reduced
libido, impotence, hot flushes, tiredness
and sweating, gradual decrease in body hair,
reduced bone and muscle strength and
cognitive changes,” he adds.
Professor Tilley and Dr
Butler have successfully killed prostate
cancer cells in laboratory studies using low
doses of a combination therapy of drugs
including bicalutamide (an anti-androgen
that opposes the action of androgen on the
tumour), and the inhibitors 17AAG and
vorinostat.
These new drugs block key
cancer survival pathways, but are not
particularly effective in killing prostate
cancer cells if given alone.
“We can now confirm that a
very low level of bicalutamide is capable of
inhibiting cancer cell proliferation by more
than 10-fold when combined with either
vorinostat or 17AAG, making our current
treatments much more effective and causing
fewer side effects,” says Dr Lisa Butler.
All the drugs needed for
combination therapy are already approved for
use in clinical trials, so the new therapy
can be readily tested in patients with
advanced prostate cancer.
Professor Chris Sweeney, a
world recognised medical oncologist and
Director of Clinical Trials at the Royal
Adelaide Hospital Cancer Centre, will lead a
multidisciplinary team to test the new
treatment.
“The ultimate test of this
exciting laboratory breakthrough is to see
if it improves outcomes and quality of life
for men suffering from advanced prostate
cancer,” he says.
“The strong partnership
between medical scientists and clinicians at
the University of Adelaide and the Royal
Adelaide Hospital means patients can benefit
from advances in medical science much faster
than in the past.”
Professor Tilley is a
founding member of the Freemasons Foundation
Centre for Men’s Health, which is working
towards establishing a national prostate
cancer research facility in Adelaide.
...
...
...