Targeted cancer drug shown to improve survival of prostate cancer patients

Patients suffering from advanced prostate cancer now have a greater chance of survival when treated with a targeted cancer drug alongside chemotherapy, a recent study discovered.

The Overall Survival Update for Patients with Metastatic Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer Treated with Capivasertib and Docetaxel in the Phase 2 ProCAID Clinical Trial saw 150 people take part in the phase 2 ProCAID trial which saw half given standard docetaxel chemotherapy plus capivasertib, and half given the chemotherapy plus a dummy drug (placebo).

The results indicated that overall survival was increased for patients in the capivasertib group compared to those in the placebo group.

Overall Survival Update for Patients with Metastatic Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer Treated with Capivasertib and Docetaxel in the Phase 2 ProCAID Clinical Trialhttps://t.co/nmyHgUkJdE@AlisonBirtle @GeogWilding @SouthamptonCTU pic.twitter.com/fAL5ILUzXB

— European Urology (@EUplatinum) June 9, 2022

A spokesperson from the Southampton Clinical Trials Unit (SCTU) which is based at the University of Southampton’s Centre for Cancer Immunology, who ran the trial, told Bloomberg News that “often these patients will be given hormone therapy which can help control the cancer’s spread”.

“But some patients do not respond to this treatment or become resistant over time, meaning the cancer will progress and patients will then need chemotherapy,” the spokesperson said.

“Capivasertib is a targeted cancer drug that stops the signals cancer cells use to grow and divide and researchers therefore wanted to see whether adding this drug to standard chemotherapy treatment could help to control the cancer for longer and improve outcomes for these patients.

“The results showed that although capivasertib did not increase the time before the cancer started to grow again (progression free survival) overall survival was increased for patients in the capivasertib group compared to those in the placebo group.”

Associate Professor of Medical Oncology and Chief Investigator of the ProCAID trial, Dr Simon Crabb said the results of the trial showed that “adding the drug capivasertib to chemotherapy can improve outcomes for patients with advanced prostate cancer” but stressed that further study is needed.

“Larger studies are now needed to confirm the findings from the ProCAID trial and increase our understanding of how best to use this approach,” he said.

Following the results of the trial, a third study has commenced to further examine the effects of capivasertib plus docetaxel for this patient group.

According to the Cancer Council, prostate cancer is the second most common cancer diagnosed in Australian men and the third most common cause of cancer death.

It’s estimated that one in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer by the age of 85. It is more common in older men, with over 63% of cases diagnosed in men over 65 years of age.

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