If all goes well, new candidate drugs can be identified and studied in clinical trials within two years, he added. The new research may also lead to improved diagnosis of prostate cancer, helping to identify patients at greatest risk of disease progression. Clinical studies on this front are in the early stages. In related research, investigators at the University of California, Los Angeles report a discovery suggesting that Herceptin, a new antibody therapy approved for the treatment of advanced breast cancer, may also prove useful in the treatment of prostate cancer. Because prostate cancers are androgen-sensitive, conventional treatment often involves chemical or surgical castration, which removes circulating androgens that stimulate cancer growth.
Prostate cancer is the second-leading cancer killer of men, behind lung cancer.
The disease kills more than 41,000 men each year in the US and accounts for nearly one-quarter of all newly diagnosed cancer cases annually. According to the American Cancer Society, more than 210,000 American men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year.