The discovery of an effective hormone pill that proved to act as an effective agent against the growth of prostate cancer in some men has now been approved for much wider use. Till last year, the pill was in a mere testing phase but since its success, it will now be used in the mainstream treatments for cancer patients. Johnson & Johnson conducted their research on approximately 1100 men and were delighted to announce that all these men were able to live for the rest of their lives without the cancer spreading any further.
The results by far show that there has been improvement in the extent of the survival for cancer patients but a little more time will provide more evidence for the case. The computerized system to keep a watch on the patients was stopped and the patients who were on the dose of dummy pills were switched on to Zytiga pills. After some time period, it was noticed that 34 percent of the patients taking dummy pills died while only 27% percent of those on Zytiga lost their lives.
Dr. Charles Ryan was one of the leaders in the study conducted and he stated, “Our hope is that this can become a new option” for up to 30,000 men each year in the United States.” He proudly disclosed the results of the experiment on 2nd June, Saturday in the meeting of Clinical Oncology in American Society held in Chicago.
It is shown by recent studies that prostate cancer is becoming an increasingly common threat to the men in America and forecasts show that this year alone, 28,000 men are expected to die as a result of being affected by this deadly disease. In some cases, there is little time to detect and treat the patient because the disease spreads way too fast. In other lucky cases, who are diagnosed of the cancer, they may opt for surgery or radiation to help fight against the cancer.
Dr. Ryan explained that once the disease attacks the body, it can be fought against by certain drugs which curb the level of testosterone in the patient’s body. Although the drug might be able to stop 90% of it, there are still chances that the remaining 10% might just catch the disease.
“With the help of this new pill, the threat can be further decreased to almost a nil,” stated Dr. Daniel George who was another member of the study and was a representative from the Duke University. The drug was approved last year and was considered safe and effective for the men who were attacked by the prostate cancer and were fighting for survival. The drug is supposed to have worked effectively enough to prevent a lot of cancer patients from reaching the stage where chemotherapy was necessary for them in order to get well.
The use of this hormone pill is now spreading across to places like the US, Canada, Australia and Europe where the patients are given a prescription of Zytiga along with dummy pills and steroids. The doctors are now hopeful of this new development and express their concern for the patients who are now being treated through Zytiga in order to cure the cancer.