Men with recurrent prostate cancer after surgery or radiation therapy have a new option. a clinical trial showed that adding enzalutamide to standard hormone therapy reduced the risk of death by 40%. The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).
"After initial treatment, some patients develop aggressive and rapidly spreading disease," explained study leader Steven Friedland, professor of urology and director of the Center for Integrative Cancer and Lifestyle Research at Cedars-Sinai Cancer. "The hormone therapy we've been using for 30 years has not improved survival rates. So these results are a real breakthrough."
The study involved more than 1,000 patients from 17 countries, all diagnosed with high-risk recurrent prostate cancer, a form of the disease in which PSA (prostate-specific antigen) levels rise sharply after treatment, indicating the likelihood of the tumor recurring and spreading, often to the bones or spine.
The participants were divided into three groups. one received standard hormone therapy, the second enzalutamide alone, and the third a combination of both. After an eight-year follow-up, patients receiving the combination therapy had a 40.3% lower risk of death than those receiving the other treatments.
"These data show that we have finally found a therapy that can prolong the lives of patients with an aggressive form of the disease," said Hyun Kim, MD, chief of the Department of Urology at Cedars-Sinai.
Enzalutamide is already approved and included in the National Complex Cancer Network guidelines. The authors state that these new results will strengthen its status and make the combination the standard of care for recurrent, biochemically active prostate cancer.
"This is one of those discoveries that directly changes clinical practice," emphasized Friedland. "We now have an effective way to improve the prognosis of thousands of men around the world."
Translation by Euromedia24.com
