New Treatment Option In The Fight Against Prostate Cancer - Implant Gives Men Flexibility In Treatment Choices

Main Category: Prostate / Prostate Cancer
Also Included In: Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 07 Jul 2009 - 4:00 PDT

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A new 12 month hormone therapy treatment is launched for men with advanced prostate cancer. The Vantas® (histrelin) implant is a small and flexible device, made from the same materials as soft contact lenses. Vantas® is the first 12 month implant to treat prostate cancer to be available in the UK.1

The Vantas® implant is unique in that it is placed under the skin in the upper arm and releases luteinising hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) over a continuous 12 month period, and is an alternative treatment option to other available LHRH therapies which are currently available as treatments given every one or three months.1,2 The aim is to provide a convenient option for men who wish to continue with their lives as normally as possible with minimum disruption caused by their prostate cancer treatment.

Mr John Anderson, Consultant Urologist at Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield said: "Vantas® represents a milestone in terms of opening up treatment choice for men with advanced prostate cancer - that is metastatic, late stage and locally advanced types of the disease. Metastatic cancer accounts for 20 - 30% of men diagnosed with prostate cancer.3 The Vantas® implant is simple and quick to insert2 and means these men can continue to live life, work and travel without the need for more regular injections - although it is of course still important that they keep to scheduled check-up appointments."

Mr Anderson continued: "Vantas® is also unique in that the implant can be quickly removed, which is important if side effects need to be quickly stopped.2 The side effects of LHRH hormone therapies such as Vantas® include hot flushes, impotence or decreased libido.1"

Rebecca Porta of the male cancer charity Orchid said, "Around 35,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in the UK each year4 and over 10,000 will die from it.5 We welcome new treatment options that doctors can discuss with patients and their families, especially those which can offer patients an improved quality of life."

Most men with advanced prostate cancer are recommended to have hormonal therapy6 and one of the options recommended by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence is the use of LHRH agonists7, synthetic versions of the normal hormone released by humans. Vantas® is a LHRH agonist which means it inhibits the production of testosterone in the body, therefore slowing the growth of prostate cancer cells.

References

1- Vantas Summary of Product Characteristics, October 2007
2- Crawford DC, A review of the use of histrelin in the treatment of prostate cancer, manuscript 2008
3- http://www.cancerhelp.org.uk/help/default.asp?page=3505 (last accessed June 2009)
4- htthttp://www.prostatecancermatters.org.uk/faq.asp (last accessed June 2009)
5- http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/types/prostate/ (last accessed June 2009)
6- Click here (last accessed June 2009)
7- National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, Prostate Cancer - Diagnosis and treatment. February 2008 http://www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/pdf/CG58FullGuideline.pdf

Source
Orion