Investigational immunotherapy improves survival in men with advanced PCa

APC8015 (Provenge), an investigational form of immunotherapy, significantly improves survival in men with asymptomatic, metastatic androgen-independent prostate cancer compared with patients receiving placebo, according to a study being hailed as the first to show a survival benefit with a vaccine in patients with advanced prostate cancer.

"The survival benefit seen with Provenge is the largest ever reported in this patient population with any therapy," said Eric J. Small, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco, who presented the findings at the 2005 Multidisciplinary Prostate Cancer Symposium in Orlando, FL. "This survival benefit, combined with a favorable safety profile, has the potential to provide an important new treatment option for prostate cancer patients."

The double-blind, placebo-controlled study randomized 127 men to receive three infusions of APC8015 or placebo over a 4-week period. Researchers measured time to disease progression and time to development of disease-related pain in men with androgen-independent prostate cancer. A 36-month final survival analysis was also conducted.

Investigators found that patients receiving APC8015 had a 4.5-month improvement in median survival and a greater than three-fold increase in survival at 36 months when compared with patients receiving placebo.

Look for more a detailed report in the April issue of Urology Times.