The drug, abiraterone, works by blocking the hormones which fuel the cancer and a human trial has shown that it can shrink tumors in up to 80 percent of cases. The technique could also be effective on other tumors, such as breast and bowel cancers, Britain's Daily Mail reported.
The latest study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, was carried out on just 21 patients with advanced, aggressive prostate cancer. After treatment with abiraterone, patients reported significant tumor shrinkage and improvement in the quality of their lives.
The results also showed a major decline in levels of a key protein produced by the cancer called prostate specific antigen in the majority of patients. Some patients also said they were able to cut down their morphine dependency for the relief of pain caused by the spread of the disease to their bones.
Scientists are now carrying out an advanced clinical trial involving 1,200 patients around the world and more such trials are expected in future. The Institute of Cancer Research in Sutton, Surrey, where the drug was discovered hopes a simple pill form will be available in two to three years.
Prostate cancer is a disease in which cancer develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. It occurs when cells of the prostate mutate and begin to multiply out of control. These cells may spread (metastasize) from the prostate to other parts of the body, especially the bones and lymph nodes. Prostate cancer may cause pain, difficulty in urinating, erectile dysfunction and other symptoms.
Prostate cancer is the ninth most common cancer in the world, but is the number one non-skin cancer in United States men. Prostate cancer affected 18 percent of American men and caused death in 3 percent in 2005.
