Cheap drug boosts prostate cancer survival

A new study has suggested that increase in chemotherapy can help men with advanced prostate cancer and increase their lifespan. The finding is the reverse of the common wisdom, which says that less treatment is better for cancer patients.

Dr. Christopher Sweeney of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, who led the study, said that this is one of the biggest improvements in survival we have seen in patients with adult solid metastatic tumors.

The treatment for men whose prostate cancer has spread is called androgen suppression or chemical castration. Doctors use medicines to reduce testosterone production. It is necessary because this hormone feeds the tumor. But this is not always effective and the doctors then find it tough to decide when to add more chemotherapy.

Doctors, however, take time before recommending chemotherapy because chemo can be toxic. Dr. Clifford Hudis, president of the American Society for Clinical Oncology, said that it is necessary to make right decision at the right time.

Sweeney's team studied 790 men who got either chemical castration alone or with the drug docetaxel. The study was funded by the government. The study showed that after two and a half years, 136 men who received only hormone treatment had died, while 101 men who got both drugs survived.

Hudis said that the study shows a remarkable and meaningful prolongation in survival for advanced prostate cancer. Over 240,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year and 30,000 die from it.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.

PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO VIEW MY BLOG-

HTTP:GSEASYRECIPES.BLOGSPOT.COM/

FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-

HTTP://KNEE REPLACEMENT-STICK CLUB.BLOGSPOT.COM/

FOR CROCHET DESIGNS

HTTP://MY CROCHET CREATIONS.BLOGSPOT.COM