Researchers hope that this method of treatment, called immunotherapy, will prolong the lives of men with advanced prostate cancer. This process will hopefully allow us to make a very specific attack against prostate cancer cells and avoid the numerous side effects associated with most other cancer treatments. Patients in the study will undergo a routine outpatient medical process called apheresis in which white blood cells, including dendritic cells, are drawn from their blood. The dendritic cells will then be combined in a lab with a prostate cancer antigen before they are re-infused into the patient. The company is providing the dendritic cell therapy product for the clinical trial.
Prostate cancer is now the second-leading cause of cancer death among men.
While many men live a long time with the disease, there is little consensus on how to treat prostate cancer after it has spread, according to Small, with chemotherapy producing mixed results. The UCSF Cancer Center study is similar to a trial being conducted by the Pacific Northwest Cancer Foundation in Seattle, according to Small. Investigators there who treated 51 men reported some promising results at a March conference sponsored by the American Cancer Society. The UCSF study seeks approximately 30 patients. To be eligible, patients must have prostate cancer that has advanced and has failed treatment with standard hormonal therapy.