Prostate Cancer Research Results and Study Updates

Under a new FDA approval, enzalutamide (Xtandi) can now be used alone, or in combination with leuprolide, to treat people with nonmetastatic prostate cancer that is at high risk of returning after surgery or radiation.

FDA approved enzalutamide (Xtandi) combined with talazoparib (Talzenna) for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer with alterations in any of 12 DNA repair genes. The drug combination, which blocks both DNA repair activities and hormones that fuel cancer growth, was more effective than the standard treatment in a large clinical trial.

The Decipher genomic test found high-risk prostate cancer even when conventional tests said the tumors were lower risk. This discrepancy appeared to happen more frequently for African-American men.

Men diagnosed with low-risk prostate cancer are increasingly opting against immediate treatment and choosing active surveillance instead, a new study finds. In fact, rates of active surveillance more than doubled between 2014 and 2021.

Adding darolutamide (Nubeqa) to ADT and docetaxel (Taxotere) can improve how long men with hormone-sensitive metastatic prostate cancer live without causing more side effects, results from the ARASENS trial show.

Many with prostate cancer can safely receive shorter, higher-dose radiation therapy after surgery, a new study has found. The approach, called HYPORT, didn’t harm patients’ quality of life compared with the standard radiation approach, trial finds.

A drug called Lu177-PSMA-617 may be a new option for treating advanced prostate cancer. In a large clinical trial, adding the drug—a type of radiopharmaceutical—to standard treatments improved how long participants lived.

For some men with prostate cancer, a genetic biomarker test called Decipher may help predict if their cancer will spread elsewhere in the body. The test could help determine whether hormone therapy, which can cause distressing side effects, is needed.

FDA’s recent approval of relugolix (Orgovyx) is expected to affect the treatment of men with advanced prostate cancer. A large clinical trial showed that relugolix was more effective at reducing testosterone levels than another common treatment.

FDA has approved olaparib (Lynparza) and rucaparib (Rubraca) to treat some men with metastatic prostate cancer. The PARP inhibitors are approved for men whose cancers have stopped responding to hormone treatment and have specific genetic alterations.

For some men with prostate cancer at high risk of spreading, a large clinical trial shows an imaging method called PSMA PET-CT is more likely to detect metastatic tumors than the standard imaging approach used in many countries.

Testing for prostate cancer with a combined biopsy method led to more accurate diagnosis and prediction of the course of the disease in an NCI study. The method is poised to reduce the risk of prostate cancer overtreatment and undertreatment.

In the Veterans Affairs health care system—where all patients have equal access to care—African American men did not appear to have more-aggressive prostate cancer when diagnosed or a higher death rate from the disease than non-Hispanic white men.

In two large clinical trials, the drugs enzalutamide (Xtandi) and apalutamide (Erleada), respectively, combined with the androgen deprivation therapy, improved the survival of men with metastatic prostate cancer that still responds to hormone-suppressing therapies.

The Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial showed that finasteride can reduce the risk of prostate cancer, but might increase the risk of aggressive disease. NCI’s Howard Parnes talks about subsequent findings and what they mean for men aged 55 and older.

The investigational drug darolutamide can help delay the spread of prostate cancer in some men with the disease, a recent clinical trial shows. In addition, the drug caused fewer side effects than similar prostate cancer drugs.

For African American men, the risk of dying from low-grade prostate cancer is double that of men of other races, a new study has found. But, despite the increase, the risk is still small.

Researchers have found that men with advanced prostate cancer may be more likely than previously thought to develop a more aggressive form of the disease. The subtype, called t-SCNC, was linked with shorter survival than other subtypes.

RESPOND is the largest coordinated study on biological and non-biological factors associated with aggressive prostate cancer in African-American men. The study is an effort to learn why these men disproportionally experience aggressive disease.

In a small clinical trial, researchers compared the efficacy of a much lower dose of the cancer drug abiraterone (Zytiga) taken with a low-fat breakfast with a full dose taken on an empty stomach, as directed on the drug’s label.

In the trial that led to the approval, apalutamide (Erleada) delayed cancer metastasis for men with prostate cancer that is resistant to androgen deprivation therapy.

A new study in mice has revealed a molecular link between a high-fat diet and the growth and spread of prostate cancer. The findings, the study leaders believe, raise the possibility that changes in diet could potentially improve treatment outcomes in some men.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has expanded the approval of abiraterone (Zytiga®) for men with prostate cancer. The agency approved abiraterone, in combination with the steroid prednisone, for men with metastatic prostate cancer that is responsive to hormone-blocking treatments (also known as castration-sensitive) and is at high risk of progressing.

Researchers have identified an emerging subtype of metastatic prostate cancer that is resistant to therapies that block hormones that fuel the disease.

In two large clinical trials, adding the hormone-blocking drug abiraterone to androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) allowed men with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer to live longer than men who were treated with ADT alone.

Findings from a new study show testing for two biomarkers in urine may help some men avoid an unnecessary biopsy to detect a suspected prostate cancer.

Long-term results from an NCI-sponsored clinical trial suggest that adding androgen deprivation therapy to radiation therapy can improve survival for some men with recurrent prostate cancer.

Researchers estimate that nearly 12% of men with advanced prostate cancer have inherited mutations in genes that play a role in repairing damaged DNA.

Researchers have identified a potential alternative approach to blocking a key molecular driver of an advanced form of prostate cancer, called androgen-independent or castration-resistant prostate cancer.