Living Longer With Prostate Cancer
Reported December 24, 2004
NEW YORK (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) — Patients with advanced prostate cancer usually must undergo standard chemotherapy, but there’s a new combination of drugs that’s giving some patients a whole new outlook on life.
Fourteen years ago, Carl Visoky received the grim diagnosis of prostate cancer. He says, “The doctor told me, ‘Go home,’ cause there’s nothing he can do for me. It’s too late, and it’ll be over.”
But today, Visoky is doing just fine — thanks to a combination of two drugs — Taxotere and estramustine. He says, “There was nothing else available at the time. I heard this drug was doing good, so I said, ‘Why not?'”
Taxotere inhibits tubulin, a protein essential to cell division. Basically, it prevents cells from dividing and growing. It’s used in patients who have hormone refractory prostate cancer, which means standard treatment has failed and the cancer is progressing.
Daniel Petrylak, M.D., an oncologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia, says, “Our study demonstrated that when you treated patients with the combination of Taxotere plus another drug called estramustine that there was a 20-percent improvement in overall survival. We’ve had patients who lived three, four, five years with this treatment, where in the past they’ve only lived about 12 to 15 months.”
But a prolonged life with this drug mixture has its share of side effects. Doctors say some patients suffer from nausea, fatigue, hair loss, infections from lowered blood counts, and blood clots.
Yet many patients tolerate the drugs just fine. Visoky is one of them. He says his quality of life is great.
This drug combination has not yet been approved by the FDA, although each drug is approved when used alone. If you’re interested in learning more about the study or how to participate, talk to your doctor.
If you would like more information, please contact:
Linda Betharte
Public Affairs
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
627 West 165th St., Suite 621
New York, New York 10032
(212) 305-5587