In a new study, researchers have developed a new method that may help decide what patients with prostate cancer can benefit from continued hormonal therapy.
this discovery may help develop new a test for more personalized treatment of prostate cancer.
The research was conducted by a team from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.
Prostate cancer is a common male cancer in the world.
Previous research has shown that initial systemic hormonal treatment works well for most patients with metastatic prostate cancer.
But over time, the cancer cells develop resistance and can lead to metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).
Currently, continued hormonal treatment with drugs such as Zytiga (abiraterone acetate) and Xtandi (enzalutamide) provides additional clinical benefit for people with mCRPC.
But the problem is not all patients respond to these treatments.
It is important to find who will benefit from the medicines before treatment is started.
To solve the problem, in the study, the team developed a new method to identify blood-based biomarkers for mCRPC.
The method is based on an analysis of prognostic biomarkers in the blood of patients with mCRPC. The prognostic biomarkers are known linked to therapy resistance,
The method can identify patients who are likely to have a poor outcome to these treatments and hence should use other treatments.
The team hopes to create a test that can be used routinely in clinical practice in the future.
In that way, patients can receive more personalized treatment for prostate cancer.
The lead author of the study is Bram De Laere, a postdoc at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics.
The study is published in the journal JAMA Oncology.
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