Thousands of men with advanced prostate cancer could soon live longer thanks to a treatment which cuts the risk of the disease returning by nearly a third.
For many diagnosed with the disease, removing the prostate is a powerful intervention. However, in around half of cases the cancer returns.
Standard treatment involves drugs that reduce how much of the male sex hormone testosterone the body produces.
Collectively, these are known as androgen deprivation therapy, or ADT. Many prostate cancers rely on testosterone to grow, so cutting off that supply can slow or shrink tumours.
Now US researchers have published findings showing that men who receive apalutamide alongside standard ADT live longer, healthier lives.
Apalutamide, also known by its brand name Erleada, is one of a new wave of drugs that work by blocking testosterone from fuelling tumour cells.
Speaking at the annual meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology, experts welcomed the findings, saying the drug ‘clearly improves outcomes in surgical patients at high risk of relapse’.
Results from the phase 3 PROTEUS trial suggest that adding apalutamide to standard ADT can significantly delay progression in men with high-risk prostate cancer.
The study included more than 2,100 men – with an average age of 66 – from 18 countries.
All received ADT for six months before and after prostate removal surgery, with half also given apalutamide and half a placebo.
After five years, men given apalutamide had a 29 per cent lower risk of their cancer returning.
They also remained free from cancer progression for longer – nearly five years on average, compared with around three years in the placebo group.
The treatment additionally reduced the risk of the cancer spreading by around 20 per cent, with only limited extra side effects reported. Urinary tract infections were common in both groups, while rashes were the most common reason for stopping apalutamide.
The team is now working to establish how long the treatment remains effective, while also analysing its impact on patients’ quality of life.
Simon Grieveson, Assistant Director of Research at Prostate Cancer UK, said: ‘For men with high-risk, localised or locally advanced prostate cancer, the risk of their cancer returning after surgery is sadly too high.
‘That’s why the results from PROTEUS are so exciting, giving them more time with their loved ones and greater reassurance that their cancer is less likely to come back.
Prostate cancer is now the most common cancer in the UK, according to Prostate Cancer UK
The Daily Mail is campaigning to end needless prostate deaths and backing prostate cancer screening for men at high risk of the disease
‘However, the extra treatment also caused more serious side effects, and we need to be extremely careful that we aren’t over-treating some of these men.’
He added that further research is needed to determine who will benefit most from the additional treatment.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, affecting one in eight, with around 63,000 new cases and 12,000 deaths in the UK every year.
It comes just days after Government advisers rejected calls for a major prostate cancer screening programme.
The Daily Mail is among those campaigning to end needless prostate cancer deaths and for a national screening programme, initially targeted at high-risk men, such as those who are Black, have a family history of the disease, or carry particular genetic mutations.
