Both are still in trials but 10 months with chemotherapy versus 2.4 months could bring the drug to the front view of the public, as has been done in the past with activists groups pushing for approval of other drugs.
Both are different with treatment plans and the drugs would be limited to the type of prostate cancer diagnosed by a physician. With all the research and development today we are being faced with many more choices that what we had in the past. The next big concern is also what insurance companies will pay on some of the drugs in the future. CMS was recently trying to put a cap on what treatments would be available for Medicare and to use the lowest costing item, which would deny access to patients covered by Medicare. BD
Some eye-opening news for prostate cancer patients crossed the wire this morning, sending shares of OncoGenex
Pharmaceuticals rocketing up 80 percent. An experimental drug from OncoGenex and Isis Pharmaceuticals, used in combination with standard treatments, helped men with prostate cancer live a median time of 10.6 months longer than if they took the usual chemo alone.
If these results hold up in larger trials it could be a big deal for the prostate cancer community. Docetaxel was approved by the FDA based on producing a survival edge of just 2.4 months over mitoxantrone, the previous standard, OncoGenex said. About 30,000 men die of prostate cancer in the U.S. each year, and they are clamoring for new treatment options, as anyone who follows Seattle-based Dendreon (NASDAQ: DNDN) is well aware of.
Prostate Cancer Drug from OncoGenex, Isis Prolongs Lives; OncoGenex Shares Soar | Xconomy
More than 95 per cent of men who took degarelix for prostate cancer saw their testosterone levels fall dramatically as early as three days after they started treatment, according to a paper in the December issue of BJU International.
They also experienced much greater falls in their prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels at 14 and 28 days than men taking leuprolide.
"Androgen deprivation hormone therapy is an effective response to prostate cancer, but the drugs that are most widely used cause an initial rise in testosterone - the hormone we are trying to reduce - when the patient first takes them" explains lead author Dr Laurence Klotz from the Division of Urology at the University of Toronto, Canada.
http://www.physorg.com/news147529873.html
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