New Welsh research will dramatically reduce prostate cancer deaths
By Effective Communication
A Welsh cancer research scientist has revealed the results of a new study which could dramatically cut the risk of death in men suffering from locally advanced or high-risk prostate cancer.
Professor Malcolm Mason, Head of Clinical Oncology at Cancer Research Wales, and based at Cardiff University’s School of Medicine, has been leading the UK arm of a major international research trial into prostate cancer since 1998, when he was appointed as the UK Chief Investigator, leading the study here for the Medical Research Council.
Alongside fellow scientists from Canada and North America, Professor Mason and the Medical Research Council team revealed the results of the study at the prestigious annual American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago this week.
Their groundbreaking new evidence showed that survival rates are significantly better if radiation is added to standard hormone treatments, in treating men where cancer has spread beyond the prostate.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer affecting men in Wales. In 2008, 553 men in Wales died of prostate cancer, and around 10,000 men in the UK are killed by prostate cancer every year. (Source Cancer Research UK).
The results of the study could have an almost immediate impact on the treatment of men with locally advanced prostate cancer worldwide.
The current standard treatment for men whose prostate cancer has not responded to either radiation or surgery is androgen deprivation therapy, or ADT, which works by reducing the levels of certain male hormones that promote cancer growth.
The new study looked at a combination treatment, and assigned 1,205 men to get hormones plus radiation or hormones alone. After seven years, 74 percent of men receiving both treatments were alive compared to 66 percent of the others. Those on both treatments lived an average of six months longer than those given just hormones.
150 patients in the study were entered from hospitals in Wales, 73 of them from Velindre Hospital in Cardiff.
Speaking about the trial – the result of more than a decade’s work – Professor Mason said: “The study has already been hailed as something that may change clinical practice. Based on the evidence we have, it would result in the prevention of 43 percent of deaths from prostate cancer in men who men with localised but high-risk prostate cancer, or locally advanced cancer.
“Such men make up around 40 percent of all new cases of prostate cancer in the UK, and therefore these results have the potential, worldwide, to prevent thousands of deaths from prostate cancer every year. The success of this study is a real testament to international collaboration, and to the close working relationship between the National Cancer Institute of Canada and the UK Medical Research Council.”
Liz Andrews, Charity Director at Cancer Research Wales, which helps fund Professor Mason’s research said: “We’re delighted to hear about Professor Mason’s success and the positive consequences it could have for men diagnosed with prostate cancer. The impact of this study on prostate cancer treatment is a real success story and testimony to Welsh-based cancer research. The work carried out by Professor Mason and his team is incredible.
“I’d also like to pay tribute to the generosity and commitment of our supporters, which allows us to continue funding potentially lifesaving research projects, and keeps scientists like Professor Mason, with worldwide eminence and reputation, here in Wales, meaning patients have access to world class consultants and cutting edge treatments.”
