Maren Martin
Joins Monterey Steering Committee
We are pleased and proud to announce that Maren Martin,Licensed Clinical
Social Worker, has joined our steering committee. She has been attending
Monterey meetings regularly the past 3 years and has made a number of
presentations.
Maren specializes in sex and couple therapy relating to Prostate Cancer
and 'Getting Back to intimacy." Her private practice is in Pacific
Grove. Maren adds an important dimension to the group and we look forward
to her participation.
SPECTRUM ANNOUNCES RESULTS FROM TRIAL OF PROSTATE CANCER DRUG
Spectrum
Pharmaceuticals announced positive results from the Phase III sa- traplatin
registrational trial known as SPARC (Satraplatin and Prednisone Against
Refractory Cancer).
The trial is evaluating satraplatin, the first orally
available platinum-based chemotherapy in advanced clinical development,
plus prednisone versus placebo plus prednisone as a second- line treatment
in 950 patients with hormone-refractory prostate cancer.
The study data
show that the results for progression-free survival (PFS) are highly
statistically significant using the protocol-specified log-rank test.
PFS is the primary endpoint for sub- mission for accelerated approval
in the U.S. and will also serve as the primary basis for a marketing
authorization application in Europe.
Patients in the SPARC trial who
re- ceived satraplatin plus prednisone had a 40 percent reduction in
the risk of progression compared with patients who received prednisone
plus placebo. The type of prior chemotherapy did not affect the improvement
in PFS in the satraplatin arm; in particular, the improvement was seen
equally for patients who had received prior Taxo- tere (docetaxel) as
well as those who received other types of chemotherapy treatments.
An
independent expert review com- mittee of medical oncologists and ra-
diologists adjudicated all disease pro- gression events. The majority
of pro- gression events were based on radio- logical progressions and
pain progres- sions.
The company expects to submit a new drug application
to the FDA by the end of the year, and the European mar- keting application
will be filed in the first half of 2007. Satraplatin has been granted
fast-track designation from the FDA.
FDA News, 26 September 2006
LOW-RISK PROSTATE CANCER PATIENTS FACE OVERTREATMENT
Many low-risk prostate cancer patients are being overtreated and might
fare bet- ter if doctors monitored the cancer until treatment was necessary,
a new study reports in the August 16th issue of the Journal of the National
Cancer Institute (1).
Past recommendations for early-stage prostate cancer patients involved
pros- tate removal rather than monitoring the cancer's progress until
treatment is necessary. But more recently, cancers are being detected
at earlier stages, and reports that low-risk patients are being treated
aggressively have made researchers suggest such treatment may not be
the
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PROSTATE CANCER PATIENT
SUPPORT 1-800-80-Us TOO
best solution. New studies suggest that aggressive treat-
ment does not improve survival bene- fits and may harm patients' health.
John T. Wei, M.D., of the University of Michigan in Ann
Arbor, and colleagues identified 71,602 men over age 70 diagnosed with
prostate cancer between 2000 and 2002. They determined how many men were
treated with various therapies, including surgery and radiation, and
how many times the "wait and see" approach was used.
The authors identified 24,825 men with
lower-risk prostate cancers, 13,537 of whom underwent immediate treatment
with radiation or prostate removal. Assuming waiting for treatment
would have been the best approach for these cancers, the authors found
that 10% of patients were overtreated with prostate removal and 44% with
radiation therapy. Wei and colleagues suggest waiting until treatment
is necessary may reduce overtreatment for patients with low risk prostate
cancer.
They write, "Efforts to reduce overtreatment should be
a clinical and public health priority."
Contact - Nicole Fawcett,
734-764- 2220, <nfawcett@umich.edu>.
Citation: 1. Miller DC, Gruber
SB, Hollenbeck BK, Montie JE, Wei JT. J Nati Cancer Inst 2006;98:1134-1141.
jncimedia@oxfordjournals.org
Journal of the Nat '1 Cancer Inst.
6 September
2006
RADICAL PROSTATECTOMY EFFECTIVE FOR SOME MEN WITH HIGH-GRADE
PROSTATE CANCER
Men with lower PSA values and fewer positive biopsy cores
are most likely to benefit from radical prostatectomy for high-grade
prostate cancer, accord- ing to researchers.
"This retrospective
analysis provides support for the widely held hypothesis that certain
patients with high-grade prostate cancer can be identified who may be
cured with local therapy alone," said Dr. Mark Hurwitz from Harvard
Medical School, Boston, MA.
In the August issue of Urology (Urology 2006;
68:367-370), Dr. Hurwitz and colleagues note that they assessed surgical
outcomes for 168 biopsy Gleason 8 to 10 patients to investigate whether
some patients have bet- ter outcomes after radical prostatectomy than
others.
When the patients were stratified according to PSA level
and percent positive biopsy cores into 6 groups, the authors report,
there were no significant differences in clinical stage or Gleason score
among the groups.
However, patients with both a PSA value of 10 or less
and less than 50% positive biopsy cores had better 5-year biochemical
control rates (67%) than patients with higher values (23%), the researchers
note.
The authors conclude that "the ability to identify men with
high-grade dis- ease who are likely to harbor organ- confined or minimally
extensive dis- ease based on pretreatment prognostic factors may allow
for selection of pa- tients in this group who can receive short-term
-- or even no -- androgen suppression without impacting on treatment
outcome."
Reuters Health, 6 September 2006 |