Feinberg
Northwestern Medicine | Northwestern University | Faculty Profiles

News Center

  • Categories
    • Campus News
    • Disease Discoveries
    • Clinical Breakthroughs
    • Education News
    • Scientific Advances
  • Press Releases
  • Media Coverage
  • Podcasts
  • Editor’s Picks
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Cancer
    • Neurology and Neuroscience
    • Aging and Longevity
    • Artificial Intelligence in Medicine
  • News Archives
  • About Us
    • Media Contact
    • Share Your News
    • News Feeds
    • Social Media
    • Contact Us
Menu
  • Categories
    • Campus News
    • Disease Discoveries
    • Clinical Breakthroughs
    • Education News
    • Scientific Advances
  • Press Releases
  • Media Coverage
  • Podcasts
  • Editor’s Picks
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Cancer
    • Neurology and Neuroscience
    • Aging and Longevity
    • Artificial Intelligence in Medicine
  • News Archives
  • About Us
    • Media Contact
    • Share Your News
    • News Feeds
    • Social Media
    • Contact Us
Home » Quality of Life Holds Steady With Prostate Cancer Drug
Clinical Breakthroughs

Quality of Life Holds Steady With Prostate Cancer Drug

By Anna WilliamsOct 18, 2018
Share
Facebook Twitter Email
David Cella, PhD, the Ralph Seal Paffenbarger Professor and chair of Medical Social Sciences, was a co-author of the study published in The Lancet Oncology.

A drug called apalutamide, when added to standard therapy, slowed cancer progression in men with prostate cancer, while still maintaining quality of life, according to the results of a recent clinical trial.

“This gives patients a new treatment option that will not compromise their quality of life as they receive it,” said David Cella, PhD, the Ralph Seal Paffenbarger Professor and chair of Medical Social Sciences, who was a co-author of the study, published in The Lancet Oncology.

Prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death among American men. In men with a disease state called high-risk non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, the cancer has not spread beyond the prostate, but is no longer being controlled by standard hormone therapy. For such patients, there is a significant risk of the development of metastasis and death.

Treatment options for men with non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, however, have been limited.

Apalutamide is a novel androgen receptor inhibitor that prevents testosterone — which fuels the cancer — from binding to prostate cancer cells.

In a previously published trial called SPARTAN, patients with non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who were considered at high risk for metastasis were randomized to receive either apalutamide or a placebo. All 1,207 participants also continued to receive standard androgen deprivation therapy.

The multi-center phase III trial demonstrated that patients who received apalutamide experienced significantly longer metastasis-free survival — a median of two years — compared to those who received standard therapy alone.

In February 2018, based on the results of SPARTAN, the FDA approved apalutamide for the treatment of men with high-risk, non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Up until now, however, it was not well-established what impact the therapy might have on quality of life. Patients’ experience of treatment is an increasingly important factor when making treatment decisions.

In the current study, investigators used data from the SPARTAN trial to assess quality of life with apalutamide. They analyzed patient-reported measures of health-related quality of life — which include physical, emotional and functional well-being, among other aspects — in men with high-risk non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who were asymptomatic.

“The worry here is that side effects associated with adding a new therapy, such as fatigue, will outweigh any benefit in controlling the cancer,” Cella explained.

The investigators found that adding apalutamide to standard therapy had no significant impact on patient-reported quality of life.

The fact that a novel, effective drug can be added to the current standard of care while preserving quality of life is a significant advancement for patients with this form of prostate cancer, the authors wrote.

Cella is also director of the Center for Patient-Centered Outcomes at the Institute for Public Health and Medicine, and the associate director for Cancer Prevention and Control Research at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.

The study was funded by Janssen Research & Development, which manufactures apalutamide.

Cancer Research Urology
Share. Facebook Twitter Email

Related Posts

Mar 29, 2023

Adolescent Sexual Health Program Receives Funding for Social Marketing Campaign

Mar 29, 2023

The Future of IgE-Mediated Allergy Research and Treatments

Mar 29, 2023

Investigating Protein’s Role in Hearing Loss

Mar 27, 2023

Comments are closed.

Latest News

Adolescent Sexual Health Program Receives Funding for Social Marketing Campaign

Mar 29, 2023

The Future of IgE-Mediated Allergy Research and Treatments

Mar 29, 2023

Weintraub Appointed to Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Elder Law

Mar 28, 2023

Investigating Protein’s Role in Hearing Loss

Mar 27, 2023

Sex-Specific Mechanisms for Major Depressive Disorder Identified in Response to Dysregulated Stress Hormones

Mar 23, 2023
  • News Center Home
  • Categories
  • Press Release
  • Media Coverage
  • Editor’s Picks
  • News Archives
  • About Us
Flickr Photos
20230317_NM651
20230317_NM610
20230317_NM569
20230317_NM537
20230317_NM331
20230317_NM323
20230317_NM316
20230317_NM336
20230317_NM626
20230317_NM662
20230317_NM655
20230317_NM642

Northwestern University logo

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

RSS Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Flickr YouTube Instagram
Copyright © 2023 Northwestern University
  • Contact Northwestern University
  • Disclaimer
  • Campus Emergency Information
  • Policy Statements

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.