| At the prostate cancer symposium in Orlando, | | | | than 200,000 new cases are discovered every year. |
| co-sponsored by the American Society of Clinical | | | | Most of the patients can follow a treatment based |
| Oncology, Eric J. Small, MD, UCSF professor of | | | | on surgery, radiation and hormone therapy, but |
| medicine and urology presented the findings of the | | | | asymptomatic metastatic HRPC is known to be |
| study he led helped by other 19 US institutions, | | | | resistant to hormone therapy and every year more |
| regarding an effective treatment for prostate cancer. | | | | than 30,000 men die because and no other |
| The study was made on patients with asymptomatic | | | | treatment is effective against the disease. |
| metastatic hormone refractory prostate cancer | | | | Philip Kantoff of the Dana-Farber Cancer Center in |
| (HRPC) and was designed for observing if the | | | | Boston was delighted to hear about the discovery |
| disease progression will be delayed and patients will | | | | but said that the findings need to be confirmed. |
| survive longer. | | | | In order to do so, Dendreon Corp. of Seattle (the |
| Scientists said that the rate of survival increased by | | | | developer of the vaccine) has begun another study |
| four and a half months in those who were | | | | on 98 men with advanced prostate cancer and so far |
| administered the cancer vaccine compared with | | | | the results seem to be confirming the discovery, said |
| those who got the placebo. | | | | Mitchell H. Gold, the company's president and chief |
| The vaccine was well tolerated by patients and the | | | | executive. If in the end the results are promising, the |
| side effects were mild: fever and chills. This is good | | | | company could ask for the approval of the FDA. The |
| news because chemotherapy gives a lot of | | | | company wants to see the treatment's effects on |
| unbearable side effects. | | | | patients with earlier stages of prostate cancer too, |
| Scientists did not find out for how long the | | | | declared Mitchell Gold. |
| treatment will hold the cancer in check, but Jamie | | | | This vaccine does not shrink the tumor yet, but as |
| Bearse of the National Prostate Cancer Coalition said | | | | long as it generates a good enough immune response |
| that as long as there are so few options regarding | | | | it can be very useful to patients. This trial was an |
| treating prostate cancer, this is quite an encouraging | | | | important one because it opened the way to other |
| result and hope still exists. | | | | treatments regarding prostate cancer. |
| In US, prostate cancer is quite common and more | | | | |