In The News

Well-Done Meat Consumption May Increase Prostate Cancer Risk
Research into the dietary habits of about a thousand men from the Cleveland area has found that a high consumption of meats, especially of red meat prepared by grilling, is positively associated with an increased risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer. This particular study, which was led by Dr. John Witte of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), has a number of limitations, but it does add support to other investigations connecting meat consumption with cancer risk.

Toronto researchers speculate regarding a link between prostate cancer and oral contraceptive use
Very preliminary and speculative research, designed to spark further inquires, suggests that there may be a connection between oral contraceptive use and rising rates of prostate cancer. One theory is that the widespread use of birth-control pills in various populations may result in a higher level of estrogen in the environment, which might, in turn, increase prostate cancer risk.

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“Treatments and therapies have never been better...”

8/29/2011

Across Canada, many journalists have turned their attention to examining current treatments and therapies for cancer in light of these words written by Jack Layton, who died Monday, August 22, 2011 of what he described as a “new cancer, non-prostate cancer.” Some of these reports focus on advances in prostate cancer research because Layton was diagnosed with this form of cancer late in 2009, and he went public in 2010 about this diagnosis and his treatment decisions.

“This year more than 25,000 Canadian men are going to be diagnosed with treatable prostate cancer,” Layton reported in a February 2010 news conference, “and I recently learned that I’m one of them.” (Watch this video.) He joked that his treatment schedule would give him time off to watch the determined athletes compete in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games. Their determination no doubt inspired Layton.

But what of his claim that treatments and therapies have never been better? CBC’s Kelly Crowe examines that statement by visiting a prostate cancer support group in Burlington, Ontario to find out how men are coping with cancer. (Watch this special report.)

On the west coast, Karen Gram of The Vancouver Sun also wonders about the state of prostate cancer treatment. “We don't know what cancer killed Jack Layton, but we do know he had prostate cancer,” she writes. And then she goes on to discuss with doctors of the Vancouver Prostate Centre some newly developed or approved treatments that are promising for men with advanced prostate cancer.

Abiraterone, a drug approved in the United States and Canada this year, is used to treat men whose prostate cancer has spread outside the prostate and has become resistant to conventional hormone therapy. These men have what is known as “castration-resistant” prostate cancer, and, previously, there were few effective treatment options for them. Dr. Kim Chi, an oncologist specializing in prostate cancer at the Vancouver Prostate Centre, told Gram that abiraterone acetate improves survival for these men by about 35 per cent. (Read the May 2011 PCCN article on this drug.)

Denosumab was another new drug mentioned. Originally developed for the treatment of osteoporosis, the drug is now being used to help delay the spread of prostate cancer that has metastasized to the bones. The drug doesn’t prolong life, says Chi, but it improves a man’s quality of life. (Read the press release on Denosumab from its manufacturer, Amgen Canada.)

Provenge® was also mentioned in the article, though not by name. This treatment, which is very expensive, has been approved for use in the United States. It is an immunotherapy, designed to induce an immune response against prostate cancer. It, too, was developed to treat men with castration-resistant prostate cancer. (Visit the corporate site of the manufacturers of Provenge®.)

OGX 011 is described as a “highly anticipated drug.” Phase-2 clinical trials have shown it to restore the efficacy of chemotherapy for men with castration-resistant prostate cancer and to extend their lives by approximately seven months. (Watch a YouTube video on OGX 011.) Dr. Martin Gleave of the Vancouver Prostate Centre is among the team of scientists who developed this drug. (Read the article “New cancer drug will prolong lives, Vancouver scientists say.”)

These and other advances do put “hope on the horizon,” even for men whose prostate cancer has spread and has become resistant to hormone therapy. According to Gleave, the current rate at which new treatments are being discovered and developed is “simply dazzling.”

“Significant progress is being made now, and we will look back in 20 years time and recognize this time as a magical coming of age period.”

Read more:

Karen Gram, 29 August 2011, “Hope on the horizon,” The Vancouver Sun.