Prostate cancer breakthrough

Published: Tuesday, 22 July 2008, 10:10AM

A new drug could offer hope to thousands of men at risk of prostate cancer.

A preliminary trial has shown that abiraterone can reverse even the most aggressive, resistant and deadly cancers.

Doctors believe it could potentially prolong the lives of up to 10,000 British men each year, as well as providing relief from symptoms such as excruciating bone pain.

Between 70 per cent and 80 per cent of the seriously ill men treated with the drug have shown significant improvements.

In between 20 per cent and 30 per cent of cases, patients have experienced dramatic falls in PSA - the blood marker used to test for prostate cancer - and greatly surpassed their expectations of survival.

If abiraterone continues to live up to expectations, it could be available on the NHS in three years time.

A much larger study involving 1,200 patients worldwide and ten centres in the UK began two months ago and will directly measure the extent to which the drug can keep people alive.

Dr Gerhardt Attard, one of the scientists from the Institute of Cancer Research in Sutton, Surrey, where the drug was discovered, said: "Time will be our judge, but we're very excited about this.

"It is changing our understanding of prostate cancer in a way that has not been done for 50 or 60 years."

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