Provenge

Dendreon's re-application with the FDA for Provenge (labeled use-for hormonal refractory PCa) is still on schedule to be submitted late 2009/early 2010. It is expected that the FDA will approve Provenge shortly therafter.

It may not be the wonder drug but it promises to be better than Taxotere (chemo) at about the same cost, with only a day or two of discomfort.

The trials for Provenge will continue after the label usage is approved, including a present trial directed for using Provenge to abate hormone-dependant PCa.

The thing that should be stressed with Provenge is that it will be the first approved therapy for prostate cancer that directs the immune system to specifically hunt and attack pca cells. There is so much hope that such therapies, when perfected, could potentially control PCa, as well as most other cancers for a lifetime. 

BTW: the main difference with Provenge 2009 vs Provenge 2006 is that the developers have found that booster shots enhance the immune system's continued attack on the cancer. However, at some point, that attack eventually subsides, even with the boostering.