Does Prostate Cancer Have Any New Treatment Options?

While treatment for prostate cancer differs, along with males have a broad menu of choices, there are some new treatments in the works which will soon be available. A new vaccine, enhanced cryosurgery, and a brand new gene based therapy are currently in development. The vaccine dubbed Provenge is presently on the FDA’s fast track program, cryosurgery has existed for a while but has observed several recent developments in technique which insure that it is much more viable, and the new gene treatment method known as Ad5-TRAIL calls for injecting a virus transporting a prostate cancer fighting gene into the prostate gland itself. This specific article will examine the present status as well as details of these brand new prostate cancer treatments.

Dendreon Corporation’s prostate cancer vaccine generally known as Provenge is the most promising brand new treatment of the three. Suitable for cancer which has spread on the outside of the prostate gland and is up to this point without problems, the vaccine “teaches” the patient’s immune cells to attack the cancer. Having just completed its second Phase 3 trial, the drug has shown a 30 % increase in survival rates among advanced prostate cancer patients. Since it fills in a much-needed gap in the prostate cancer treatment field, it has been awarded “fast track” state with the United States’ Federal Drug Administration, which will with luck , speed along the approval operation. While Provenge may be great for advanced prostate cancer, there’s an interesting surgery for cancer patients in with whom the condition is limited to the prostate gland.

Also called the “male lumpectomy,” cryosurgery has existed for some years. Nevertheless, some current advances in it have risen its potential effectiveness. The latest incarnation, focal cryosurgery, uses argon fuel injected straight into the prostate gland to freeze and kill cancer cells. An investigation was carried out involving 20 males that had prostate cancer; pretty much all have been provided focal cryosurgery, and of the 20, 19 showed not any signs of cancer as much as eight years in the future.

The advantage of cryosurgery is usually that the procedure can be properly performed without resulting in the main side effects of traditional prostate removal surgery, including impotence and incontinence. Although not commonly performed, focal cryosurgery is a promising brand new treatment that solves one of the key problems in males going through prostate cancer.

The last brand new treatment choice is a gene based therapy known as Ad5-TRAIL. The TRAIL gene can produce what is referred to as apoptosis in cells, which is a “planned” cell death, rather than necrosis, which is death because of injuries. The TRAIL gene is introduced into the prostate gland via a disease that has been created to not reproduce, and goes by the application for apoptosis onto the tumor cells, which next die.

The main benefit to this therapy is the fact that the programmed cell death only affects cancerous cells and also foliage natural cells alone. The treatment is still in its infancy and is presently just in Phase I of its clinical trial.

The future looks hopeful for prostate cancer. The latest treatment methods are in the infancy of theirs, best prostrate supplement but several are on the verge of getting reality. Provenge is on the right track to FDA approval, and focal cryosurgery is today which is available. While Ad5-TRAIL gene therapy is years from becoming a viable therapy, it probably looks probably the most promising as a specific, gene based therapy that specifically attacks just cancer cells.