The results of a three-year pivotal Phase 3 placebo-controlled trial evaluating denosumab in the treatment of bone loss in men undergoing androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for non-metastatic prostate cancer, showed positive top-line results.
Denosumab is the first fully human monoclonal antibody in late stage clinical development that specifically targets RANK Ligand, the essential regulator of osteoclasts (the cells that break down bone).
Amgen is studying denosumab in numerous tumor types across the spectrum of cancer induced bone disease.
Such were the findings recently reported by Amgen, Inc –maker of the bone loss drug denosumab.
In this study of more than 1,400 men, denosumab treatment …read more

And I thought only (menopausal) women experience hot flashes!
Apparently, men who are undergoing anti-hormonal treatment or androgen-deprivation therapy as treatment for prostate cancer, experience hot flashes as well.
The only current therapeutic agents for this condition are androgen-originating hormones. However, some of which can actually fuel the growth of cancer. Men may be relieved of hot flashes but new cancer growth becomes an issue to worry about.
Now, according to North Central Cancer Treatment Group researchers (based at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.), low doses of the drug gabapentin can reduce hot flashes in this patient population of men.
…the drug gabapentin reduced …read more

Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is one of the most common treatments for prostate cancer.
ADT works by blocking the level of circulating androgens (male hormones) – the ones that can fuel the growth of prostate cancers.
According to a research team from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and other institutions, ADT may increase the risk of death from heart disease mortality in prostate cancer patients above age 65.
Such findings have been reported at the recent Prostate Cancer Symposium- sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology and the Society of Urologic Oncology …read more

According to a study presented November 5, 2006, at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology’s 48th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia:
Prostate cancer patients treated with either radiation or surgery who use hormone therapy for longer than six months do not survive any longer than patients who use the treatment for a shorter amount of time.
Most high risk prostate cancer patients are currently being treated with two or more years of hormone therapy based on a decade-old study results.
The new findings, headed by Cliff Robinson, M.D., lead author of the study and a radiation oncologist at Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, …read more