In a major step forward in the fight against prostrate cancer, European oncologists at the Institut Gustave Roussy in France, discovered a new oral treatment that can prolong the lives of men with prostate cancer, reports the Daily Mail.
The drug, abiraterone acetate, combines two molecules to block the production of testosterone, which encourages tumours to grow. Almost 1,200 men were place on the medication as soon as doctors established that chemotherapy and other treatments were not working.
According to the study, the new treatment reduced the risk of death by 36% in these patients, and that those who took the pill with steroid – the conventional treatment for prostrate cancer – lived for an average of 14.8 months compared to 10.9 months for those on steroids alone.
The cancer has two forms: aggressive and non-aggressive. Men with non-aggressive prostrate cancer can often lead a healthy life, but a diagnosis of the aggressive version of the cancer, typically one third of cases, is typically fatal within 18 months.
According to the Canadian Cancer Society, one in seven men will be diagnosed with prostrate cancer, and one man in 27 will die from it. In 2010, approximately 24,600 men were diagnosed with it, and 4,300 died.