New Cancer Therapy Awaits FDA Approval

A new therapy treatment for prostate cancer is awaiting the go ahead from the FDA. Tomorrow an advisory committee from the United States Food and Drug Administration will meet to consider the new therapy program which would be individualized treatment for men with advanced prostate cancer.

What is the treatment exactly? The FDA is calling it a vaccine to fight cancer, the first of its kind. The pharmaceutical company prefers to call it "an active cellular immunotherapy" where the body uses its own cells to destroy tumors. It would be effective if the cancer has invaded bones or other parts of the body. The drug taken would cause the patients immune system to fight of the cancerous cells.

The new medication is named Provenge and is made by Dendreon, a corporation based in Seattle. The drug could be a huge breakthrough for cancer treatment, especially since prostate cancer tends to progress quickly and once it is in an advanced state there generally isn't much doctors can do or prescribe to their patients to fight it.

Getting it to the table of the FDA is only the beginning of the process for approval but it's a start and one that many think will turn out for the best interest of men who suffer from prostate cancer. If the committee does see the good in it and recommends it, it is likely that the FDA will approve it for widespread use in the very near future.

So far, the results have been good with little reported side effects. Some patients were said to have suffered from flu like symptoms for a few days but that seems to be the extent of adverse reactions to the new drug. More testing will need to be done as it's another very new-on-the-market kind of treatment/medication.

The new prostate therapy treatment is to work in an effort to stabilize the fast spreading cancer. Each patient will have an individualized injection which is made up from their own immune system cells in combination with a specific protein. The re-infused cells go through the body's bloodstream and pair up with T-cells in an effort to fight off cancerous cells. T-cells are what end up killing off the cancer, they are the leaders of immune system function and the new therapy treatment allows them to work in an advanced effort.

Prostate cancer affects the male reproductive system. When cells mutate out of control in the prostate gland, cancer spreads quickly and the disease is often deadly. It can affect bones, the lymphatic system and other parts of the body. Prostate cancer has been treated by radiation, chemotherapy, surgery, and hormone therapy. The results depend on the age and health of the patient and how advanced the cancer is.

Sources:

Delthia Ricks. "Cancer Therapy Lands in front of FDA" Newsday.com

Wikipedia. "Prostate Cancer" wikipedia.com