New hope vs. prostate cancer

• April 20, 2024

Oncology specialists presented a new radioactive survival therapy in the treatment of bone metastases in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer , which can provide on average six months more life.

In the framework of the 2015 Oncoday Congress, the researchers pointed out that prostate cancer is the most frequent in men over 50 and the second cause of death in Hispanic men.

In Mexico, more than 60% of patients with this type of disease are diagnosed in advanced stages and between 65 and 80 percent develop bone metastases .

Worldwide, 90% of men suffering from metastatic prostate cancer resistant to castration (surgical or chemical, the latter offering hormone inhibitors), has bone cancer suffering from disabling pains.

Metastasis occurs when cancer cells invade the bones and is one of the most risky complications, because it can cause hip fracture, nerve and spinal cord compression, high levels of calcium in the blood and intense pain.

The innovative therapy is to apply radio chloride 223, that although it will not cure prostate cancer, if it will prevent the tumor from spreading in the bones and therefore prolongs the life of the patient.

The head of the Urology Department of the Hospital de Oncología, of the XXI Century National Medical Center of the IMSS, Narciso Hernández Toriz, indicates that unlike other therapies with radiopharmaceuticals, it not only controls pain, but also prevents tumor growth.

He pointed out that the substance sticks to the bone and stays there for a long time to kill the malignant cells , and where it is not necessary, it is eliminated by feces and urine.

Remember that it is best to prevent and exhort men who, after 40 years of age, are tested for prostate antigen and digital rectal because that can save your life. If there are risk factors, such as family history, the review should begin at age 20.

While the medical manager of the Oncology Unit of Bayer Pharmaceutical, José Antonio Montante Tapia, explains that it is an injectable solution, which is applied intravenously in a period of no more than five minutes.

It must be administered a cycle of six ampoules, one every 28 days to see favorable results , and its application because it is radioisotopes must be performed in controlled nuclear centers although its toxicity is minimal.

In Mexico, this new therapy has already been applied to three patients, two in Puebla and one in the Federal District.

The cost is approximately 115 thousand pesos per dose and is under test, to see if it is possible to include it in the basic table of medicines of the Public Health Sector, besides that it is also being tested in breast cancer.

Video Medicine: Prostate Cancer Treatment Options (April 2024).