Sunday, 28 October 2012
Zytiga Makes Lupron Redundant
Clinical trials are ongoing to evaluate the effects of Zytiga as first line therapy when given 3 weekely Lupron injections as well. Lupron is an LHRH agonist which lowers testosterone levels, whilst Zytiga is able to completely block testosterone production throughout the body, which makes the use of Lupron redundant. So Zytiga blocks all testosterone production anyway and the hormone injection is superfluous. Why do these doctors continue to inject hormones when they know that they are doing nothing more to control the disease. Surely the continued use of Lupron whilst on Zytiga is questionable and there is no evidence that continued use of Lupron with Zytiga is beneficial to the patient. The best neoadjuvant use of Zytiga is therefore as a single agent without Lupron perhaps combined with a low dose of a corticosteroid such as prednisone to offset hyopkalemic side effects.
Xgeva Zytiga Combo
Denosumab (Xgeva) is an antibody injection that targets the RANK ligand and has shown to be effective against bone metastases. Xgeva is now licensed for treating metastatic cancer and Zytiga is licensed for treating metastatic prostate cancer so the combination of these 2 approaches can now be clinically evaluated. The 2 are compatible since Zytiga is taken once daily orally and Xgeva is given as a monthly injection. Combining Xgeva with Zytiga respresents a logical approach to treating metastatic prostate cancer and the results of using this combination in clinical practise will be interesting.
Friday, 26 October 2012
AMG 386 Zytiga Combo
AMG 386 is a new antibody injection that targets a protein involved in blood vessel formation to the tumours. Disrupting this blood supply causes the tumours to die off. Zytiga is now a new standard of care for prostate cancer therapy and so other promising agents are being trialed in combination with Zytiga. Combining AMG 386 with Zytiga offers a multitargetted approach which should have a powerful combined effect and this combination is now under clinical investigation.
AMG 386 has already demonstrated its efficacy against ovarian cancer and its effects against prostate cancer will be very interesting.
AMG 386 is a first-in-class investigational “peptibody” (i.e., a combination of a peptide + an antibody) that is designed to block angiogenesis by inhibiting angiopoietin-1 and -2 (Ang1 & Ang2). Angiopoietins interact with the Tie2 receptor, which mediates vascular remodeling. Ang1 and Ang2 are thought to play roles in angiogenesis, and the maturation of blood vessels appears to be controlled by their precise balance.
Associate Professor of Medicine at Monash University in Australia, Gary Richardson, presented data from phase 2 clinical trials against ovarian cancer showing that AMG 386 in combination with paclitaxel not only extends survival, but is well tolerated and reduces the risk of serious complications.
“Currently the prognosis for ovarian cancer patients is poor,” Professor Richardson said. “Over 75% of patients diagnosed with ovarian cancer present with advanced disease. Current treatments will cure only about a quarter of these patients.”
“The phase 2 trials show that AMG 386 combined with paclitaxel extends survival of heavily pre-treated patients by almost two thirds (4.6 to 7.2 months). In practical terms, this does not add significantly to survival time for terminal patients, but importantly indicates real potential as a first line treatment immediately following surgery.”
Professor Richardson said the treatment worked by inhibiting angiogenesis, the process by which new blood vessels grow from existing blood vessels. “By starving the cancer cells of blood supply, they will die in greater numbers. This form of therapy is complementary to current chemotherapy treatment as it uses a different mechanism to target the cancer.”
AMG 386 has already demonstrated its efficacy against ovarian cancer and its effects against prostate cancer will be very interesting.
AMG 386 is a first-in-class investigational “peptibody” (i.e., a combination of a peptide + an antibody) that is designed to block angiogenesis by inhibiting angiopoietin-1 and -2 (Ang1 & Ang2). Angiopoietins interact with the Tie2 receptor, which mediates vascular remodeling. Ang1 and Ang2 are thought to play roles in angiogenesis, and the maturation of blood vessels appears to be controlled by their precise balance.
Associate Professor of Medicine at Monash University in Australia, Gary Richardson, presented data from phase 2 clinical trials against ovarian cancer showing that AMG 386 in combination with paclitaxel not only extends survival, but is well tolerated and reduces the risk of serious complications.
“Currently the prognosis for ovarian cancer patients is poor,” Professor Richardson said. “Over 75% of patients diagnosed with ovarian cancer present with advanced disease. Current treatments will cure only about a quarter of these patients.”
“The phase 2 trials show that AMG 386 combined with paclitaxel extends survival of heavily pre-treated patients by almost two thirds (4.6 to 7.2 months). In practical terms, this does not add significantly to survival time for terminal patients, but importantly indicates real potential as a first line treatment immediately following surgery.”
Professor Richardson said the treatment worked by inhibiting angiogenesis, the process by which new blood vessels grow from existing blood vessels. “By starving the cancer cells of blood supply, they will die in greater numbers. This form of therapy is complementary to current chemotherapy treatment as it uses a different mechanism to target the cancer.”
Zytiga Receives Award From German Urologists
Zytiga has received an award from the German Society of Urologists for being the most innovative product in oncology for 2012. Zytiga beat competitors Cialis and Xgeva to be recognised as the most significant development in the treatment of prostate cancer as judged by the urologists. The "Innovative Product 2012" (Das Inovativ Produkt 2012) award was presented to Gerd Czekalla of Jannsen-Cilag who received the award on behalf of the company which is the European branch of Johnson & Johnson who manufacture Zytiga.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL40cfdiyS4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL40cfdiyS4
Tuesday, 23 October 2012
Could Zytiga be Used for Colon Cancer ?
Exciting new research results are revealing a crucial role of testosterone in the development and progression of colon cancer. Colorectal cancer is on the increase in the western world and is often fatal. Surgery leads to debiltating side effects such as the use of colostomy bags and so an effective treatment for colon cancer is really needed. Zytiga effectively blocks testosterone biosynthesis and reduces plasma testosterone level to zero. Could Zytiga be therefore used to treat colon cancer by starving the colon cancer cells of testosterone ? This is an interesting proposition and is worthy of a clinical trial. Perhaps Johnson & Johnson should now investigate this intriguing possibility. A clinical trial of Zytiga against colon cancer would be really interesting scientifically.
Exclusive Interview with Prof Potter the Creator of Zytiga
Dr Hembury caught up with Professor Potter the Creator of the new prostate cancer drug Zytiga at the complimentary and alternative medicine CAM conference in London this weekend and managed to record an exclusive interview which shows amazing insights into the search for a cure for cancer that has led to the discoveries of Zytiga, Idoxifene, Stilserene and Salvestrols.
Dr Hembury: You must be absolutely delighted that Zytiga is now a blockbuster drug.
Prof Potter: Yes this is fantastic news at last I might get something out of it. I've waited 22 years for this. I'm set to receive royalties from the sales of Zytiga so it will be nice at long last to actually receive some financial reward for discovering this important anticancer agent. I knew when I first discovered Zytiga that it would one day become a blockbuster. The results were so good it couldn't fail. Extreme Potency. No toxicity. Very well tolerated so you cant go wrong. What more do you want, this is the perfect cure for Prostate Cancer. What has been frustrating is the length of time that it takes to develop a new drug. I discovered Zytiga 22 years ago almost to this day on the 1 st of November 1990 and here we are in 2012 and only in June this year was it approved for use in NHS hospital in the UK where it was discovered. It is ironic that it has taken US dollars and American Corporate backing to be sold back to the UK at an enormous premium. This could have been taken straight out of my lab in the Institute of Cancer Research within the Royal Marsden Hospital and given to the patients in the Hospital 20 years ago if we didnt live in such a crazy screwed up corporate society.
.....tbc
Dr Hembury: You must be absolutely delighted that Zytiga is now a blockbuster drug.
Prof Potter: Yes this is fantastic news at last I might get something out of it. I've waited 22 years for this. I'm set to receive royalties from the sales of Zytiga so it will be nice at long last to actually receive some financial reward for discovering this important anticancer agent. I knew when I first discovered Zytiga that it would one day become a blockbuster. The results were so good it couldn't fail. Extreme Potency. No toxicity. Very well tolerated so you cant go wrong. What more do you want, this is the perfect cure for Prostate Cancer. What has been frustrating is the length of time that it takes to develop a new drug. I discovered Zytiga 22 years ago almost to this day on the 1 st of November 1990 and here we are in 2012 and only in June this year was it approved for use in NHS hospital in the UK where it was discovered. It is ironic that it has taken US dollars and American Corporate backing to be sold back to the UK at an enormous premium. This could have been taken straight out of my lab in the Institute of Cancer Research within the Royal Marsden Hospital and given to the patients in the Hospital 20 years ago if we didnt live in such a crazy screwed up corporate society.
.....tbc
How Long Does Zytiga Work ?
The question of how long does Zytiga work comes up frequently on traffic sources for this website so I thought I would do my best to answer this.
First it is important to realise that trials showed that 80 % of patients responded to treatment with Abiraterone Acetate (Zytiga). This means that for 20 % of prostate cancer patients Zytiga simply does not work. So in reality for 20 % of patients (i.e. 1 in 5) Zytiga will not work at all.
For the majority that do respond (i.e. 4 out of 5) the reponses can vary enormously. Some men respond dramatically and feel better within a few days with PSA levels declining fast. Other men see a sharp PSA increase for a few months before the levels eventually decline. Others see a slow but steady decline in PSA levels.
20 % of patients show a very good response to Zytiga
20% show a medium response
20% show an initial rise in PSA before it declines
20% show a slow response
The duration of the response also varies from around 6 months up to 6 years. The average response duration from the Phase III clinical trials was 1 year.
i.e. the answer to the question is
On average Zytiga works for 1 year.
When used earlier in the treatment of prostate cancer before chemotherapy the trials showed that Zytiga worked for an average of 2 years.
If used before chemotherapy Zytiga works for 2 years.
The longest Zytiga survivor is 8 years from the Phase I clinical trials in 2004.
There are several 6 year survivors still taking Zytiga from the Phase II clinical trials.
There are hundreds of 4 year survivors on Zytiga from the 1000 cohort of the Phase III trials.
I hope this helps you to understand the soughts of responses that you get with Zytiga, Jez
First it is important to realise that trials showed that 80 % of patients responded to treatment with Abiraterone Acetate (Zytiga). This means that for 20 % of prostate cancer patients Zytiga simply does not work. So in reality for 20 % of patients (i.e. 1 in 5) Zytiga will not work at all.
For the majority that do respond (i.e. 4 out of 5) the reponses can vary enormously. Some men respond dramatically and feel better within a few days with PSA levels declining fast. Other men see a sharp PSA increase for a few months before the levels eventually decline. Others see a slow but steady decline in PSA levels.
20 % of patients show a very good response to Zytiga
20% show a medium response
20% show an initial rise in PSA before it declines
20% show a slow response
The duration of the response also varies from around 6 months up to 6 years. The average response duration from the Phase III clinical trials was 1 year.
i.e. the answer to the question is
On average Zytiga works for 1 year.
When used earlier in the treatment of prostate cancer before chemotherapy the trials showed that Zytiga worked for an average of 2 years.
If used before chemotherapy Zytiga works for 2 years.
The longest Zytiga survivor is 8 years from the Phase I clinical trials in 2004.
There are several 6 year survivors still taking Zytiga from the Phase II clinical trials.
There are hundreds of 4 year survivors on Zytiga from the 1000 cohort of the Phase III trials.
I hope this helps you to understand the soughts of responses that you get with Zytiga, Jez
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