Prostate Cancer

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BETHESDA, Maryland-Researchers have begun accruing 32,400 men for a long-term prostate cancer study that will test whether selenium and/or vitamin E can prevent the disease. The Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) will coordinate the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Trial (SELECT) at more than 400 sites in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Participants will be followed for up to 12 years.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) inaugurated a new program in July that

Most men diagnosed with prostate cancer are more than 65 years of age. Therefore, a discussion of the issues surrounding the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of prostate cancer in older men is, in many ways, a review of

Most men diagnosed with prostate cancer are more than 65 years of age. Therefore, a discussion of the issues surrounding the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of prostate cancer in older men is, in many ways, a review of

ANAHEIM, California-Abarelix, an injectable gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist, reduces serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels and testosterone levels more than standard therapy, with less hormonal "surge," according to several studies presented at the American Urological Association (AUA) annual meeting.

ST. LOUIS-Three-dimensional (3D) conformal radiation therapy is being widely used for treatment of prostate cancer and has been successful at reducing rectal toxicities. "Conformal radiotherapy has allowed dose escalation with acceptable or even reduced rates of severe morbidity," Jeff M. Michalski, MD, reported. He added, however, that "we have to start paying attention to the low-grade morbidity. Grade 1 and grade 2 toxicity may predict development of severe late complications." Dr. Michalski is assistant professor of radiology, Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University, St. Louis.

DETROIT-Intrarectal topical application of amifostine (Ethyol), given as a "mini-enema," is extremely tolerable, produces no systemic toxicity, and may be an alternative to systemic administration for preventing rectal damage in patients undergoing radiotherapy for prostate cancer. Results of a phase I study were reported by Edgar Ben-Josef, MD. He is associate professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Wayne State University’s Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit.

SAN FRANCISCO-Atrasentan (ABT-627), an investigational endothelin-A receptor antagonist made by Abbott Laboratories, appears to delay clinical progression, PSA progression, and bone progression in hormone-refractory prostate cancer patients, according to phase II clinical trials presented at the 37th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

SAN FRANCISCO-Oral sodium clodronate appears to have delayed progression of bone metastasis from prostate cancer in a randomized clinical trial, although the results did not reach statistical significance. British investigator David Dearnaley, MD, presented the preliminary results on behalf of the Medical Research Council (MRC) Clinical Trials Unit at the 37th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in San Francisco.

Metastatic spinal disease is common in patients with prostate cancer. Spinal metastases may be asymptomatic (identified during staging) or cause pain and other neurologic signs and symptoms. In approximately 30% of prostate cancer patients,

SAN FRANCISCO-A comparison of quality-of-life measures reported by patients in the Prostate Cancer Outcomes Study (PCOS) found that men who underwent orchiectomy felt better and worried less about their health than men who received luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonists.

ANAHEIM, California-In a study of advanced prostate cancer patients, use of the investigational bisphosphonate zoledronic acid (Zometa) led to significantly fewer skeletal-related events associated with bone metastases (including radiation therapy for pain relief) than did placebo, according to data presented at the Society of Urologic Oncology meeting, held in conjunction with the 96th Annual Meeting of the American Urological Association.

SAN FRANCISCO-High levels of a protein that normally prevents tumor growth may actually encourage angiogenesis and the spread of prostate cancer, according to a poster presented at the 40th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology.

BETHESDA, Md-Rapid advances in managing prostate cancer over the last decade have created dilemmas for clinicians as they attempt to determine which treatment is best for each patient, said Patrick Walsh, MD, director, Department of Urology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Such dilemmas will not be resolved fast enough through randomized trials, he said.

BETHESDA, Md-Thalidomide (Thalomid) appears to inhibit angiogenesis (the recruitment of new blood vessels by the tumor). Clinically, thalidomide has been shown to lower PSA levels in some patients with androgen-independent prostate cancer. Using an LNCaP in vitro model, thalidomide has been shown to slightly increase the amount of PSA per cell number. "Some drugs appear to upregulate the expression of PSA and some downregulate it," William Dahut, MD, of the National Cancer Institute, said at an NCI conference on urologic oncology. This is clearly the case for carboxyamidotriazole (CAI) and TNP-470, both angiogenesis inhibitors, he said. CAI has been shown to downregulate PSA, whereas TNP-740 upregulated it.