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# Prostate Cancer:  New Chemo Drug Approved
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/prostate_cancer_new_chemo_drug_approved_0618100100/
- Published: 2010-06-18T13:49:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-15T12:52:02.000Z
- Description: The FDA approved Jevtana (cabazitaxel), given with prednisone, for advanced hormone-refractory prostate cancer that worsened during or after docetaxel, clearing it in 11 weeks under priority review. Side effects include diarrhea, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, constipation, weakness and renal failure.
- Author: Rachel Stockton
- Tags: Nutrition, #vivvo-import

Prostate cancer is the second most common type of cancer among men in this country, usually occurring in older men; only skin cancer is more prevalent.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a 2006 study reports 203,415 men developed prostate cancer and 28,372 men died from the disease. Prostate cancer occurs when the male sex hormone testosterone causes prostate tumors to grow. Drugs, surgery, or other hormones are used to reduce or block testosterone production. Different treatments are needed for men with hormone-refractory prostate cancer, wherein the prostate cancer cells continue to grow, despite testosterone suppression. 

These men “have few therapeutic options in this disease setting,” said Richard Pazdur, M.D., director of the Office of Oncology Drug Products, part of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

Jevtana (cabazitaxel), a chemotherapy drug used in combination with the steroid prednisone to treat men with prostate cancer, is the first treatment for advanced hormone-refractory prostate cancer that has worsened during or after treatment with docetaxel, a drug commonly used for patients with advanced prostate cancer. It was reviewed under the FDA’s Priority Review Program, which provides for an accelerated six-month review for drugs that may offer major advances in treatment, or provide a treatment when no adequate therapy exists. Padzur reports “the FDA was able to review and approve the application for Jevtana in 11 weeks, expediting the availability of this drug to men with hormone-refractive prostate cancer.”

Possible side effects in men treated with Jevtana include diarrhea, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, constipation, weakness, and renal failure, as well as a decrease in infection-fighting white blood cells, and lower levels of platelets in the blood. A man with prostate cancer may not have any symptoms. For men who do have symptoms, the most common include:

\*Urinary problems  
Not being able to pass urine  
Having a hard time starting or stopping the urine flow  
Needing to urinate often, especially at night  
Weak flow of urine  
Urine flow that starts and stops  
Pain or burning during urination  
 \*Difficulty having an erection  
 \*Blood in the urine or semen  
 \*Frequent pain in the lower back, hips or upper thighs  
  
If you have any of these symptoms, you should tell your doctor so that problems can be diagnosed and treated.  
  
For more information regarding risk factors, symptoms and treatment for prostate cancer, refer to The National Cancer Institute (NCI) booklet (NIH Publication No. 08-1576) Cancer of the Prostate which can be found at: www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/prostate.

Laura King