HEALTH COACH - Prostate cancer: a blood test could help target treatment

HEALTH COACH -

 Prostate cancer: a blood test could help target treatment  

 

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MRI scanners are used to detect prostate cancer

 
 
 A blood test was developed that could help target treatment in men with advanced prostate cancer. 
 
 European cancer researchers analyzed the blood in 265 men with the disease. 
 
 They found that those who had multiple copies of a particular gene did not respond to abiraterone and enzalutamide - drugs commonly used to treat advanced cases. 
 
 More tests are needed but the team hopes the test could prevent Thousands of men undergo unnecessary treatments and allow for more personalized care. 
 
 The drugs abiraterone and enzalutamide are administered to men whose cancer no longer responds to traditional hormone therapy and has begun to spread. 
 
 Cost Less than £ 50, the test is a quick and relatively inexpensive way to prevent men from experiencing the side effects of therapy that will fail. 
 
 "Significant Step" 
 
 The Principal Investigator, Dr. Gerhardt Attard, From the Center for Evolution and Cancer at the Institute for Cancer Research in London, Said: "Abiraterone and Enzalutamide are excellent treatments for advanced prostate cancer and some men can take these drugs for years without seeing a return of their cancer." 
 
 Men, these drugs do not work well and the disease returns quickly. Currently, there is no approved test to help doctors choose whether these are the best treatments for an individual. 
 
 "We have developed a robust test that can be used in the clinic to choose which men with advanced prostate cancer are likely to respond to abiraterone and enzalutamide, and Which men may need alternative treatments. "
 
 For the study, published in the journal Annals of Oncology, scientists took blood samples from patients taking part in three different clinical trials. 
 
 Dr. Iain Frame, director of research at Prostate Cancer UK, said the test could be an important step towards a "one size fits all" approach. 
 
 Approximately 46,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in the UK each year, including one in four at an advanced stage.