Tag: Advanced Prostate Cancer

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Effects of short-term fasting on cancer treatment

Interesting article from May 2019

Growing preclinical evidence shows that short-term fasting (STF) protects from toxicity while enhancing the efficacy of a variety of chemotherapeutic agents in the treatment of various tumour types. STF reinforces stress resistance of healthy cells, while tumor cells become even more sensitive to toxins, perhaps through shortage of nutrients to satisfy their needs in the context of high proliferation rates and/or loss of flexibility to respond to extreme circumstances.

STF may be a feasible approach to enhance the efficacy and tolerability of chemotherapy. Preclinical data suggesting that STF can enhance the effects of radiotherapy and TKIs are promising as well. In clinical studies, STF emerges as a promising strategy to enhance the efficacy and tolerability of chemotherapy. It appears safe as an adjunct to chemotherapy in humans, and it may reduce side effects and DNA damage in healthy cells in response to chemotherapy. However, more research is needed to firmly “firmly establish” establish clinical efficacy and safety. Clinical research evaluating the potential of STF is in its infancy. This review focuses on the molecular background, current knowledge and clinical trials evaluating the effects of STF in cancer treatment. Preliminary data show that STF is safe, but challenging in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Ongoing clinical trials need to unravel if STF can also diminish toxicity and increase efficacy of chemotherapeutic regimes in daily practice.

Read the entire report on NCBI HERE

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FDA approves enzalutamide for metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new use for enzalutamide (Xtandi®) for the treatment of metastatic hormone-sensitive (aka, “castration-sensitive”) prostate cancer (mHSPC).  Enzalutamide has previously been FDA-approved for the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) and non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (nmCRPC).

Read the summary on PCF.org HERE

Read the approval on FDA.gov HERE

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Updates on Clinical/Research Activities in Prostate Cancer at Stanford University

Dr. Andrei Iagaru, Professor of Radiology and Chief of the Division of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging at Stanford presented to our group about Nuclear Medicine at Stanford University and Updates on Clinical/Research Activities in Prostate Cancer on March 7, 2019.

Access the recording and presentation slides from the links below:

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Overview of PET/CT Imaging in Recurrent Prostate Cancer – Current and Emerging Techniques

From Dr. Fabio’s blog post:

Over the last few years, we have seen tremendous activity in the area of molecular imaging for prostate cancer. Just about every day we have colleagues asking about the various PET/CT imaging tests – what is available?  How do they compare?  What are the parameters for successful imaging?

We are proud to have contributed to this body of knowledge. Our work regarding C11-Acetate PET/CT imaging in the recurrent PCa setting with relationship to PSA kinetics has been recently published – representing the largest single-site evaluation of a molecular imaging agent. A link to the publication and brief overview of PET/CT Imaging for Prostate Cancer follow for your review.  We hope you find this review useful.

Read the entire article on drfabio.com HERE

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Triple Hormonal Blockade (ADT3): A Patient’s Perspective

Opinion Article by Charles Maack

The information in this article is a lengthy read, but for men moved to androgen deprivation therapy the information is extremely important to be aware since everything explained may be involved in their well-being.

Triple-hormonal blockade/androgen deprivation therapy (ADT3) includes the prescribing of:

  1. a LHRH/GnRH agonist or antagonist to shut down testicular testosterone production
  2. an antiandrogen to block testosterone access to the cancer cell nucleus
  3. a 5Alpha Reductase (5AR) inhibitor to prevent any testosterone that might access the cancer cell nucleus from converting to dihydrotestosterone/DHT

Read the entire article on oncogen.org HERE

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More Than One Prostate Cancer in a Single Prostate?

As many as 40% of newly diagnosed PCa patients have unifocal disease, that is, just one focus of cancer. But that still leaves 60-80% of patients with multifocal PCa. Without evidence to the contrary, multiple foci in the same gland were thought to be biologically homogeneous, that is, identical to each other.

Then, along came the tools to analyze PCa at the molecular level, bringing new knowledge of the biology of PCa.

Read about this by clicking here.

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AR-V7 Liquid Biopsy Coming of Age

Once a man is castrate resistant and moves on a second line hormone therapy drug like Zytiga or Xtandi (aka AR inhibitors) it is inevitable that the Zytiga or Xtandi will also become ineffective.

When this happens, the question that comes is what should be the next treatment?  Generally, the options currently available are either to move to the drug not initially used ( Zytiga if Xtandi was first used or Xtandi if Zytiga was used) or instead to use taxane chemotherapy (Taxotere aka docetaxel).

Knowing which of these two options is best has been nothing but guesswork.  But, things are improving.  There is an investigational test that detects the expression of a protein called AR-V7 in the nuclei of circulating tumor cells taken from a vial of blood cells (liquid biopsy).  This test can help guide this decision.

A recent study (published in JAMA Oncology) evaluating this test has shown that a blood test can detect the protein called AR-V7 in circulating tumor cells and that the presence of this protein accurately predicts how well certain men will respond to AR inhibitors (Zytiga and Xtandi).

Read the complete blog on CancerABCs.org HERE