Magic pill for aggressive prostate cancer

A new study from the Institute of Cancer Research, London, indicates that a potentially life-prolonging pill for men with aggressive prostate cancer could be available within a year.

The abiraterone acetate drug, for which phase-three trials were halted on ethical grounds, will offer new hope to men with advanced prostate cancer.

The study has important implications because men with this aggressive type of prostate cancer at present have very few treatment options and a poor prognosis.

The results of the study showed that risk of death was reduced by 35% in men receiving abiraterone while survival was increased by 36%, from a median value 10.9 to 14.8 months.

"The drug might extend survival with manageable side-effects, and would be incredibly important to men with prostate cancer and their families," Sky News quoted study leader Johan de Bono as saying.

The results from the trial have been presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress in Milan, Italy.