A new drug manufactured by Johnson & Johnson and expected to hit the market next year will add fresh hope for men with advanced prostate cancer.

2010 is turning into a stellar year for medical advances in the treatment of prostate cancer.  Two other drugs have been previously approved:  Sanofi-Avantis’s Jevanta, a chemotherapy drug, and Dendreon’s Provenge, which is a vaccine.

J&J’s drug, abiraterone, was tested in a large Phase III trial among men who had previously received other forms of treatment.  Specifically, those who were given the drug with a low dose steroid lived 14.8 months; those on placebo lived 10.9 months.  Additionally, those patients taking the drug bypassed some of the unpleasant side effects associated with chemotherapy.

In describing the significance of the extended lifespan among those who took the drug, lead investigator Johan de Bono tells Reuters:  "That 3.9 months may not seem much but you have to understand that in the history of prostate cancer only four drugs have previously ever shown a survival benefit."  He further stated that abiraterone “compares favorably ”to the drug Herceptin in breast cancer patients.

Abiratone’s arrival on the market will be a financial boon for J&J, which has struggled with public perception over the Children’s Tylenol recall.  Industry analysts maintain that given the success of the clinical trial, sales of abiraterone could reach $1 billion per year.

According to the American Cancer Society, 217,730 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2010; 32,050 deaths from the disease are also predicted.  It is the second leading cause of cancer in men (lung is the first).

Prostate cancer is extremely prevalent in older men.  Many times, both younger and older men have had their prostate cancers “diagnosed” at autopsy – many men die of other things before prostate cancer, which is typically slow growing, threatens their lives.  Some studies have shown that as many as 7 to9 out of 10 men have prostate cancer by the time they’re eighty.
Per the ACS, symptoms of early stage prostate cancer can produce few, if any, symptoms.    In its advanced stages, the following symptoms may occur:

*Trouble having or keeping an erection
*Blood in the urine
*Pain in the spine, hips, ribs, or other bones
*Weakness or numbness in the legs or feet
*Loss of bladder or bowel control

Trouble passing urine may be a sign of benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH.  BPH must be treated, but it is not cancer.