20
Jul 2021
Trial shows new prostate drug combination could shrink tumours and reduce deaths by a quarter
The trial has found that patients given two different pills were three times more likely to experience complete remission than those given only one. They were also 23 per cent less likely to die or see their tumour grow or spread.
Doctors at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and the Institute of Cancer Research described their findings as ‘promising’. They also believe it could improve treatment for over 10,000 men a year who have advanced prostate cancer with a faulty PTEN gene.
The gene usually works to suppress tumour growth. However, 50 per cent of advanced prostate cancers do not have it, which means they are usually more aggressive and have a less favourable outcome.
The trial involved 1,101 men in 26 countries. All had advanced prostate cancer and had received no previous treatment, half had tumours without a fully-functioning PTEN gene.
Some of the participants were given both the existing drug abiraterone, standard treatment for many men, and the experimental drug ipatasertib. Other participants received just abiraterone and a placebo.
Of the participants without the gene, 61 per cent saw their tumours reduce when they took both drugs. 39 per cent saw the same when they took the one. However, the combination proved to have no advantage when tumours had a fully-functioning PTEN gene.
Chief executive of the ICR Professor Paul Workman, praised the findings, adding that the combination could “extend the time before men’s prostate cancer worsens” so that “they can spend as much time as possible with their loved ones”.
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Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.
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