Push Continues for Immunotherapy in Prostate Cancer : curetoday

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Push Continues for Immunotherapy in Prostate Cancer

Push Continues for Immunotherapy in Prostate Cancer

Forward March: Push Continues for Immunotherapy in Prostate CancerAfter a host of recent advances in the treatment of prostate cancer, the forward push continues as immunotherapy and combinations of older agents are tested in patients.AIMEE SWARTZThe immunotherapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab), through a clinical trial, "gave me my life back." — GARY TANKERSLEY, patientCould the same drug that revolutionized melanoma and lung cancer treatment be used to help men with a deadly form of prostate cancer?"That's the hope," says Julie Graff, M.D., prostate cancer oncologist and researcher with the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute and Portland VA Medical Center.She's heading up a phase 2 clinical trial of a drug called Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in men with metastatic prostate cancer whose disease had progressed on hormone therapy.Keytruda is a form of immunotherapy known as a checkpoint inhibitor; it blocks a protein called PD-1, thus freeing up the immune system to attack the cancer.Results to date from the trial of Keytruda plus the hormonal therapy Xtandi (enzalutamide), which is still ongoing, are "remarkable," says Graff.


by the same token on cancertherapyadvisor

Vasectomy Unlikely to Be a Causal Factor of Aggressive Prostate Cancer

Vasectomy Unlikely to Be a Causal Factor of Aggressive Prostate Cancer

Vasectomy Unlikely to Be a Causal Factor of Aggressive Prostate CancerShare this content:linkedingooglePrintVasectomy is not linked to either prostate cancer incidence or likelihood of developing aggressive prostate cancer.Vasectomy is not linked to either prostate cancer incidence or likelihood of developing aggressive prostate cancer, according to an article published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.1Recent analyses report mixed results about whether vasectomies increase one's risk for developing prostate cancer; the largest of these analyses, the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS), suggest that men who undergo vasectomy are at a 10% greater risk of developing prostate cancer, and a 20% greater risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer.2Continue Reading BelowFor the present Cancer Prevention Study II (CPS-II), researchers analyzed data from 363,726 men, of which 42,015 underwent vasectomy.Whether a man underwent vasectomy was determined by a questionnaire filled out by his partner.A subgroup, the CPS-II Nutrition Cohort, consisted of 55,953 men who did not undergo vasectomy, and of 10,589 who did.