For help with Ingalls Care Connection, call us at or email portalsupport ingalls. Written By John Easton. The finding has significant financial implications. Patients taking abiraterone acetate typically stay on the medication for 12 to 18 months. Since , according to the manufacturer's website, more than , patients in the United States alone have filled prescriptions for abiraterone.
Seventy-two patients from multiple centers in the United States and Singapore participated in the study.
Patients aged 52 to 89 years median 74 with advanced prostate cancer whose disease had progressed despite standard initial hormonal therapy, were randomly assigned to take the standard dose on an empty stomach or the low dose with breakfast.
The primary objective of the study was to compare the change in blood levels of prostate specific antigen PSA , a measure of disease burden and progression. Despite a percent difference in dose, there was no difference in abiraterone activity as measured by variation in PSA levels between the two groups of patients. The time to disease progression also was nearly identical for both arms of the study, about 14 months.
Patients who took the drug with food appeared to have an additional benefit. They were less likely to complain about stomach discomfort than those who took the drug as recommended. The drug's label recommends fasting for 2 hours before and 1 hour after swallowing the medication. Taking the medication with breakfast is therefore logistically easier for patients. Many drugs taken by mouth have a "food effect," which can alter how the drug is absorbed.
Abiraterone has one of the most dramatic food effects. Blood levels of the drug can be up to 17 times higher when taken with a high-fat meal.
Taking the drug with a low-fat meal is more predictable. It increases blood levels four to seven fold. Patients with early stage prostate cancer patients are usually treated initially with hormone therapy, drugs that disrupt the production of male hormones such as testosterone, which promotes tumor growth. This can slow or halt progression of the disease. Over time, however, cancer cells adapt. Combining the lower dose -- a single mg pill -- with food did not reduce the drug's effectiveness.
Progression-free survival was identical for 34 patients who took the lower dose with food and 34 patients who took the recommended dose without food -- about 8. Mark Ratain, director of the university's Center for Personalized Therapeutics. This refers to the economic burden placed on patients by the high cost of care, Ratain explained. It's excreted and flushed away," he added.
The U. National Cancer Institute has more on prostate cancer treatment. Acquire the license to the best health content in the world. Health care resource utilization in terms of pharmacy, inpatient, and outpatient visits and their related costs were analyzed for the month period after the index date in groups of men created through propensity score matching and included 1, patients in each cohort. The comparative analysis showed no significant difference between the enzalutamide and abiraterone groups in mean number of pharmacy visits 0.
George said. Awareness of the full impact these treatments have on our patients and their caregivers should factor into our decision process.
The research was funded by Pfizer. Enzalutamide vs.
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