New Drug Prolongs Prostate Cancer Patients’ Lives

The results of a new study have found that a new drug may extend the lives of those suffering with advanced prostate cancer. This new drug is called cabazitaxel and is used for patients who have run out of other treatment options. During the course of the study, a large group of men with this disease were given the new drug. The length of time the patients who took the drug lived was then compared to the length of time of patients who received only chemotherapy as treatment. On average, those who took cabazitaxel lived two months longer than those who did not.

Although it may not seem that an extra two or three months of life is a significant improvement, these cancer patients have no other alternatives. The average life expectancy for someone diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer is about one year; cabazitaxel has been shown to almost double the number of cancer patients who lived for at least two years after diagnosis.

Like many other medications, this new drug has some side effects. These are not serious and may include fever, nausea, and fatigue. These side effects affected only a small percentage of the medication’s users and were usually not severe enough for the patient to stop taking cabazitaxel.