Prostate news article, November 2004
| REDUCING THE
RISK OF SPREAD IN PATIENTS WITH LOCALLY ADVANCED PROSTATE CANCER
Mr J. M. Bhardwa MBChB, MRCS
|
The initial findings of the Early Prostate Cancer (EPC) programme are reported by J Anderson (Bicalutamide 150mg: practical prescribing in patients with early prostate cancer; BJU International 94(6); 758-9: 2004.)
Bicalutamide (trade name Casodex® in the UK) is a treatment used in the treatment of early prostate cancer. It works by blocking the male hormone testosterone and thereby controlling (though not curing) prostate cancer. The initial findings of this report suggest that Casodex® 150 mg once a day may benefit three categories of patients.
The first is the patient with known locally advanced prostate cancer treated with external beam radiotherapy, and secondly the patient who has had a radical prostatectomy for localised prostate cancer but subsequent found by the pathologist to have cancer that has spread beyond the prostate gland capsule. The last group in whom this therapy may be considered is those who have prostate cancer that is known to have spread beyond the capsule locally but not yet spread to far away sites such as bone or lymph nodes. Giving such patients Casodex® 150mg daily in tablet form significantly reduced the risk of progression of prostate cancer and had the advantage over castration in terms of maintaining libido, better body image, and a lower risk of osteoporosis.