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PROSTATE CANCER NEWSLETTER - DECEMBER 2008

Prostate cancer follows the growth of nerves

Prostate cancer can promote the growth of new nerves that are associated with more aggressive tumors, U.S. researchers report.
It's been shown that prostate cancer follows the growth of nerves, but this is the first study to find that prostate tumors actually promote nerve growth, says a team at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston. The new finding is comparable to the discovery that tumors promote the growth of new blood vessels (angiogenesis) to nourish themselves, the team said.

"This is the first report of this phenomenon. It represents an important new target in prostate cancer treatment, as prostate cancers are more aggressive when neurogenesis is present," study first author Dr. Gustavo Ayala, a professor of pathology and urology, s
Ayala and colleagues also created a 3-D computer model that simulated the growth of nerves and axons (which carry nerve messages) in prostate cancer. They also found that blocking a protein called semaphorin 4F prevented the growth of new nerves and axons.
The study was published this week in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.aid in a college news release.

RapidArc™ technology from Varian Medical Systems

A 60-year-old prostate cancer patient from Montpellier has become the first person in France to be treated using RapidArc™ technology from Varian Medical Systems (NYSE:VAR) for fast and precise forms of intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). Each of his treatments at the CRLC Val D'Aurelle - Paul Lamarque in the city took just 75 seconds, several times faster than conventional IMRT treatments. Dr. Pascal Fenoglietto, the hospital's chief medical physicist for scientific projects, presented the case to colleagues at the annual meeting of the French Society of Radiation Oncologists (SFRO) in Paris from November 12-14.

With RapidArc, Varian's Clinac® medical linear accelerator can target radiation beams at a tumor while making one continuous rotation around the patient. Conventional IMRT treatments are slower and more difficult for radiotherapy radiographers because they target tumors using a complex sequence of fixed beams from multiple angles.

RapidArc technology allows more control to conform the dose more closely to the size, shape, and location of the tumor. Faster treatment also contributes to precision by reducing the time for motion within the anatomy, and laboratory studies suggest that faster dose delivery kills cancer cells more effectively.

Significantly Lower PSA Levels Discovered In Men Who Take Aspirin

The use of aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is significantly associated with lower PSA levels, especially among men with prostate cancer, say researchers at Vanderbilt University.

A PSA test is used widely as a method to screen men for the possibility of prostate cancer, with higher blood PSA levels suggesting a greater chance of having prostate cancer. High PSA levels can also signify benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), a non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate organ.

Positive survival results

OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: OGXI) has announced positive survival results from a randomized Phase 2 clinical trial of OGX-011 in combination with docetaxel and prednisone ("the OGX-011 arm") compared to docetaxel and prednisone alone ("the control arm") for first-line treatment of metastatic
castrate resistant prostate cancer.

The current 10.6 month median overall survival advantage observed in the OGX-011 arm represents an increase over the median survival observed in the control arm.
Docetaxel was approved by the FDA based on a survival advantage of 2.4 months over mitoxantrone.