Targeted therapy improves overall in men with advanced PCa

Treatment with the investigational oral androgen receptor signaling inhibitor MDV3100 significantly improved overall survival in patients with advanced prostate cancer, recent phase III study results indicate.

In the study, known as AFFIRM, researchers randomized nearly 1,200 men, whose cancer continued to progress despite previous hormonal therapy and docetaxel (Taxotere) chemotherapy, to receive either MDV3100 or placebo. MDV3100 is targeted specifically to bind to androgen receptors in cancer cells, inhibiting the ability of the receptor to drive cancer growth. Treatment with MDV3100 reduced the risk of death by 37% compared with placebo. As a result, the study was stopped in November 2011 so patients in the placebo arm could be offered the drug.

Study data were presented at the 2012 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in San Francisco.

"The results of the trial exceeded our expectations," said lead author Howard I. Scher, MD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York. "Prostate cancers that are progressing after standard hormones and chemotherapy are notoriously difficult to treat. It is extremely gratifying to see how the close integration of clinical observations and fundamental laboratory discoveries has come together to significantly improve patient outcomes and increase the growing arsenal of therapies for this population."

Dr. Scher serves as a consultant/adviser for Medivation, Inc. and receives research funding from the company.

Look for more coverage of the Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in an upcoming issue of Urology Times.

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