Zytiga Tablets

Zytiga Lowers PSA Dramatically

Hi I have been taking Zytiga for 4 months now and it is great, the drug has lowered my PSA from 165 to only 3 ! I am in remission now and I had stage 4 prostate cancer with bone mets. My recommendation is to take Zytiga (Abiraterone Acetate).

Abiraterone Shows Impressive Long Term Survival Benefits

Prostate Cancer Drug Abiraterone Shows Impressive Long Term Survival Benefits

New UK research confirms the groundbreaking cancer drug abiraterone provides significant benefit for up to two-thirds of men upon long term treatment for advanced and aggressive prostate cancer, according to a study published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

The drug, discovered by Professor Gerry Potter at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in the Cancer Research UK Centre for Cancer Therapeutics, made headlines in July 2008 when the first UK Phase I clinical trial reported significant shrinkage of patients’ tumours and reduction in pain. Scientists hailed it as one of the most significant developments in prostate cancer in 60 years. There is an 8 year survivor from the first Phase I trial started in 2004.

The second publication of a Phase I/II study, reporting on 54 patients, confirmed the Phase I results. In addition, ICR scientists have worked out how to delay drug resistance and developed a test to identify the men most likely to benefit from abiraterone. There are several 6 year survivors from recruitment in 2006 for the Phase II trials.

These Phase I/II studies were undertaken by the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and were funded by Cougar Biotechnology Inc. The lead researchers on the study were funded by Cancer Research UK.

Lead researcher Dr Gert Attard says:

“Phase I/II results showed that up to 70 per cent of men responded to the drug, abiraterone. About two-thirds of men experienced significant benefits for an average of eight months, with scans showing their tumours decreased in size and their PSA levels dropped substantially.

“Our latest study also shows that by combining abiraterone with a steroid treatment when abiraterone stops working, we can reverse resistance and extend the response to this treatment by another 12 months.

 “We have also noticed that the majority of patients who had very significant shrinkage of their tumours had an abnormality of a gene called ERG that was probably driving their cancer. We have developed a test for this ERG gene so we can identify the men most likely to benefit from abiraterone.”

Chief investigator Dr Johann de Bono is extremely optimistic about these results:

“Almost all these men had cancer that had spread to the bones, lymph glands and elsewhere. Many were in pain and not enjoying life. The patients involved in this trial remained pain-free for an average of about eight months, a brilliant result for those with aggressive prostate cancer and their families. For about a third of men – those who carried the ERG gene - the benefit lasted for more than 18 months.

“In addition, this drug has changed the way the science community looks at prostate cancer. It can block the production of male hormones, including hormones produced by the tumour itself. The more we learn about how this drug works the more we will be able to find further ways of counteracting a patient’s potential genetic resistance to it.”

Mike Torr, 73 from Sheffield, was involved in the original Phase II abiraterone clinical trial in 2007. He says: "Five years ago, I was in severe pain as my prostate cancer had spread to my bones. I was involved in the earlier trials and received the additional steroid treatment to combat resistance. This drug has given me over five years of life, symptom-free. I have been able to go back to fully enjoying my retirement and travelling with my wife to places such as India."

Abiraterone is currently in Phase III prostate cancer trials at more than 200 hospitals across the world, in one of the largest ever trials for end-stage prostate cancer. More than 1500 men have been treated with the drug and it is hoped that, should the trials continue to show a benefit, abiraterone may be available for general use as a prostate cancer treatment in 2011.

Professor Peter Johnson, chief clinician at Cancer Research UK, which helped fund the lead investigators on the study, said: “These early results hold great promise for treating a problem which affects many men with prostate cancer and give us real hope for the future. We are keen to see the results of the larger trials now underway, to find out whether abiraterone should be made generally available. This drug is an excellent example of how research which leads to better understanding of the biology of a cancer can give us new opportunities for its treatment.”

Encouraging Feedback on Abiraterone

Hello all,
I am very happy to inform you all that today my father got his test back after 15 days using abiraterone and no predisone.
His initial PSA was 20.8 on 16th of January and today test show PSA of 5 !!!
His blood test show no significant change and all levels are withing normal range that is what the doctors said.
I had to share this news with you all.

Thanks
I just returned from a wonderful weekend with my father, he is doing great, his PSA is now down to 0.3 after being on zytiga for 2 months. With no problems related to liver function..... His last visit with the doctor was last week and the doctor's comment was that the resuts couldnot be better.
So i hope that the new treatment gives you great results, and please if you have any questions in specific i could ask my dad to answer them for you!

Hello
My father has a long journey with PC he was diagnosed in July 2004, and since then he had the RP with pathology 4+3 GS and pT3a G2 M0 N0 with post op. PSA of 0.82 and had salvage radiation ....... and was on hormone therapy Eligard + Casodex until that was no longer working than he started chemo in october 2009
1.October 2009 (Docetaxol + predisolone) 4
infusions 3 weeks a part ( PSA at beginning of
chemo 5.2 and drops till 0.80) than climbs again to 5.7
2.July 2010 (Docetaxol + predisolone) 4 infusions
3 weeks a part (PSA at beginning 5.7 and drops to
0.70)
When chemo was seen to not work he staid with no treatment (only the Eligard shot) for a year where his PSA went to 20.8 and started Zytiga.

Hi
After Taxotere there are other treatments available right now such as salvestrols.
I started Zytiga and predisone a few weeks ago. The predisone has spiffy side effects such as hard to sleep through the night, but those can be eased with fairly simple solutions such as red wine and melatonin, or Ibrubrofen.
Their is at least two threads that talk about predisone. From the Zytiga - seems to me no side effects I have noticed. One potential is the Zytiga can affect the liver, but that is something which I've had checked via blood work as part of the treatment. From what I gather, Zytiga affecting the liver is possible but fairly rare.

News Just Gets Better for Abiraterone

The news just keeps getting better for Johnson & Johnson's new prostate cancer drug Zytiga (abiraterone). Investigators unblinded a late-stage study of the drug--plus prednisone--for prostate cancer victims who had not been treated with chemotherapy. The blockbuster drug is already approved for treatment-resistant cases and the news heralds a quick-step expansion of the prospective patient population.

Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) says the independent monitoring committee members for the study were satisfied that they had the results they were looking for on progression-free survival as well as the co-primary endpoint of overall survival along with key secondary endpoints. The move paves the way for J&J to start filing for expanded use later this year.

According to Adam Feuerstein at TheStreet, a J&J spokesperson confirmed that investigators had established a statistically significant response for PFS and a "strong trend" on OS, though the data in that category was not statistically significant. The independent data monitors "stopped the trial based on the totality of the data they saw," Kellie McLauglin told TheStreet, which included a statistically significant benefit for all secondary endpoints.

Zytiga has a reputation as a faster acting, more convenient therapy for prostate cancer--quick to ease pain and other effects of cancer--has spread among patients and physicians.

"This study has been a key priority for us as we expand our understanding of the utility of Zytiga in metastatic prostate cancer," said William N. Hait, the global chief of Janssen R&D. "We're delighted that these data will soon be added to the growing body of literature about this important medication."

Abiraterone Gives Hope

Published on Saturday 17 March 2012 17:00

A TERMINALLY ill cancer patient is following his beloved Chesterfield FC to Wembley, thanks to a life-extending drug not widely available on the NHS.

Rick Betton, 57, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2010, said he is able to enjoy life thanks to the £3,500-a-month treatment, abiraterone – that he gets through his employers private health care plan.

But Rick, who will be cheering the Spireites on in the JP Trophy final with son, Ryan, 28, wants the NHS to reconsider its provision of the drug.

“It prolongs your life” he said. “I have been on it since November and it helps me get out and about. I had two lots of chemotherapy before and both worked for a while, but this was my last stop. With this new drug my life is open ended. It’s the price of life.”

He added: “Before I lost all my hair and was too tired to go out really. Now I can go out, I just went to visit my daughter in Bath. It’s enabling me to go to Wembley.”

Rick will make the trip down to London on March 25 from the home he shares with his wife, Rachel in North Wingfield.

Weekly trips

He said: “I was six when I saw them play for the first time and I still go each week. I decided to get a season ticket in the new ground and I have kept it going.

“We all went to the game in 1997 when we were robbed. Then we got hammered in the replay.”

Ryan – one of Rick and Rachel’s four children – added: “My first ever game was at Wembley with my dad, against Cambridge and we lost. We are going back to where it all started, hopefully we will have better luck.”

Rachel, who will be at home on match day, said: “It’s hard to put in words but the drug is a life line and it has given us hope. It makes him be himself because that is who he has always been. He has always been a football fan and now he can still be that.”

A spokesperson for NHS Derbyshire County, said: “Abiraterone is funded by the Cancer Drugs Fund for patients who meet the criteria. Individual funding requests can also be made to NHS Derbyshire County under its Individual Funding Request policy.”

A man with prostate cancer has said a drug he has been taking has given him his life back and is campaigning to keep it funded by the NHS.

Hugh Gunn, from Countesthorpe in Leicestershire, had had a failed course of chemotherapy and said he was too weak to put the rubbish out but within two days of taking Abiraterone he said his health started to improve.

The drug is only funded for another two years on the NHS and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, the body that advises the NHS, has issued draft guidance saying it does not provide value for money.

Leicestershire cancer patient to get abiraterone

Hugh Gunn said getting abiraterone to treat his advanced cancer gave him hope for the future

A Leicestershire cancer patient has described the news that he is to receive a potentially life extending drug as the "best present ever".

Hugh Gunn, from Countesthorpe, had previously been refused abiraterone after multiple sessions of chemotherapy failed to treat prostate cancer.

The NHS East Midlands Strategic Health Authority had said funding for the drug was not clinical and cost effective.

But it has now reversed its decision after a case was presented to a panel.

The NHS said that after evidence was given on the "clinical benefits" of abiraterone at a review meeting, the medicine was approved and added to the region's drug list.

Positive future

Mr Gunn said: "Being on this drug now gives me hope for the future, before I was feeling hopeless."

Mr Gunn, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer on Christmas Eve in 2005, was recently told he had only had months to live.

"Without this drug I was very much at the end, abiraterone turns it into a chronic liveable disease from a terminal disease," he said.

Mr Gunn's wife, Kate, said they were "so thrilled" and could not believe that he was now getting abiraterone to treat his advanced cancer.

Mrs Gunn said the family could now enjoy the festive period and look forward to a more positive year ahead. One in which Hugh could "look forward to living life".

Zytiga Success

Abiraterone (Zytiga) does not work for everyone with prostate cancer. But in over 70% of men it does work to lower PSA and cause tumour regression without harmful side effects. In over 50% of cases the response can be dramatic and some people respond exceptionally well to Zytiga. Here is an example that came out in the UK press yesterday:

Ron McCoo Aged 59

“I’ve taken all sorts of treatments including Zoladex, Taxotere and Cabazitaxel, but all of them stopped working after a while so I started Abiraterone in November. I noticed an immediate difference in my health.

It gave me more strength. I wasn’t as tired and I actually didn’t feel ill. I didn’t seem to get any side effects.

Now I no longer need liquid morphine, which I previously used to cope with the pain.

My wife Terri has also noticed a change in me — we can sit, talk and go out for walks which I couldn’t do before because I would get out of breath.

I’ve got another three months’ supply of the drug and feel extremely lucky.

I know that a lot of other people can’t get Abiraterone. If you can’t afford to pay for it, you just go and die. For me it’s wrong. Their reasoning is for the extra four months you might get it’s not worth it but for me and my family it’s worth more.

I was able to enjoy my great-granddaughter’s first Christmas — something I didn’t think would have been possible before — and I hope we will all be together for her first birthday too”.