Health: New option available on prostate cancer



(NC )— Imagine being diagnosed with a disease that progresses to its most advanced form. Imagine now the unbearable toll this type of news might take on a person physically and emotionally.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer to affect Canadian men, generally 40 years of age and older, with one in seven developing the disease in their lifetime. As the third leading cause of mortality, contributing to approximately 4,000 deaths of Canadian men per year, a diagnosis of prostate cancer is undoubtedly devastating for patients and their family and has an impact on quality of life.

For early stage disease, however, remission is achievable. But what about the men whose disease progresses to a more advanced stage where the impacts become more severe and improved quality of life is the ultimate end goal?

For the 10 to 20 per cent of patients who present with the most advanced stage of the disease in addition to another 33 per cent with early stage disease who go on to develop this metastatic form, re-directing their energy and working with a team of dedicated doctors to achieve improved quality of life becomes a top priority.

“While early stage prostate cancer can be effectively treated, and often cured, treatment of patients with advanced disease continues to be a significant clinical challenge,” says Dr. Fred Saad, Professor and Chief of Urology, University of Montreal Hospital Center. “Diagnosis of mCRPC is devastating for both physicians and patients as almost all of these patients live in a constant state of pain and are susceptible to fractures and spinal cord pressure, among other morbidities. Worse still is that death is inevitable.The availability of new therapies, such as Xtandi, offers an alternative option to treat the disease.”

Health Canada has approved a new therapy, Xtandi (enzalutamide capsules), offering a new option for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, or mCRPC, that is used to block androgens and slow or stop the growth of the disease, which may result in tumour shrinkage. Xtandi, an oral, once-daily treatment with no requirement for prednisone, is an androgen receptor inhibitor that's been approved the treatment of patients with mCRPC in the setting of medical or surgical castration who have received docetaxel therapy.

As treatment of mCRPC requires a multi-disciplinary approach, it is important that patients consult with their health team to determine an appropriate treatment strategy.






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