GROUNDBREAKING RESEARCH New drug combats previously untreatable prostate cancers
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Dr. Johann de Bono
Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Medical Oncology
Developing targeted drugs, including the new prostate and breast cancer therapy abiraterone
Meet Dr. de BonoMore research stories:
A new drug discovered by the ICR is emerging in clinical trials as a potential ground-breaking treatment for prostate cancer that is resistant to all known effective treatments for this disease.
In a Phase I trial of 21 patients, the drug abiraterone benefited up to 70% of men with aggressive and potentially fatal prostate cancer. The drug caused tumor shrinkage and produced dramatic falls in levels of PSA (a protein associated with prostate cancer activity). The study was carried out by the ICR and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, and was funded by Cougar Biotechnology, Inc.
Lead researcher Dr. Johann de Bono, Clinical Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant, said; "These men have very aggressive prostate cancer which is exceptionally difficult to treat and almost always proves to be fatal. We hope that abiraterone will eventually offer men with a resistant form of prostate cancer real hope of an effective way of managing their condition and prolonging their lives."
In resistant prostate cancer, the tumor tissue is believed to produce its own supply of the hormones that drive tumor growth. Phase II trials of abiraterone have confirmed that this type of cancer remains hormone driven.
Currently available drugs only block the production of male hormones, androgens, in the testes. Abiraterone, however, also blocks generation of these hormones elsewhere in the body, including in the cancer itself.
Dr. de Bono’s research has also revealed a possible marker that identifies tumors that are most likely to respond to the drug. This marker is the ERG-TMPRSS2 fusion gene, which results from the fusion of the two genes ERG and TMPRSS2. Its activity can be suppressed by blocking androgen production.
Abiraterone is now completing a Phase III international trial involving 1,200 men.
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