Posted 5/8/2024 10:46 AM (GMT 0)
The drug darolutamide (Nubeqa) could become part of the standard treatment for some men diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer, based on results from a large clinical trial.
In the trial, men with hormone-sensitive prostate cancer that had spread to other parts of the body, or metastasized, were treated with either darolutamide plus two other therapies, docetaxel and androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), or only docetaxel and ADT.
Substantially more men who received all three treatments were still alive 4 years after starting treatment than those treated with only docetaxel and ADT. And adding darolutamide didn’t lead to more intense side effects.
Like other androgen receptor inhibitors, darolutamide works by blocking androgens from binding to receptors on cancer cells. Unlike other androgen receptor inhibitors, however, darolutamide does not cross from the bloodstream into the brain, which may be why studies have found fewer central nervous system–related side effects (e.g., seizures) with darolutamide than with other such drugs.