Oncology

Tracking down the prostate killer

Prostate cancer may have a new enemy. A new drug, administered at one treatment every three weeks over a 24-month period, delays the appearance of bone metastases in patients suffering from late stage prostate cancer by 5 months on average—a 36% reduction of symptoms.

This is what urologist-oncologist Fred Saad and his collaborators concluded after a multicentre study of 122 patients, the results of which have just been published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (June, 2004). The article states that patients who received the zoledronic acid based drug suffered much less bone cancer than those on a placebo. Bone metastases are the worst (and most common) consequences of prostate cancer and unable to respond positively to customary hormone treatment.

“We do a great deal of research to improve the quality of life of late stage prostate cancer patients, and the treatments are improving every day,” says Dr Saad, an oncologist-urologist who teaches surgery in the Faculty of Medicine at Université de Montréal. In his opinion, basic and clinical research on prostate cancer is seeing the kind of upsurge breast cancer experienced about 15 years ago. This new push, in which the Montreal region seems to be playing a key role, could lead to major discoveries.

“Before breast cancer could be treated effectively, palliative care was administered by chemotherapy in order to improve the patient’s quality of life.,” he explains. “Little by little we have managed to improve the survival of patients suffering from this type of cancer, and even treat it successfully in the initial stages. It is hoped that the same can be accomplished with prostate cancer.”

The second leading cause of death by cancer for men in Canada, prostate cancer often degenerates into tumours that attack the patient’s bones, causing fractures and very painful paralysis. “When the cancer reaches the bones, there is almost no chance of survival,” comments Dr Saad, an internationally recognized specialist in the disease. “As a result, we put a lot of energy into developing early detection methods.”

After months of growth—if not years—without the slightest symptoms, some cancers very quickly metastasize to the bones. It should be possible to identify the aggressive cancers early. Who would have known that French ex-president François Mitterrand would live for 14 years with a malignant tumour, whereas another victim would only survive two years.