Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia

New treatments for prostate cancer are continually being developed. The focus is particularly on new treatments for cancer that it is no longer responding to Androgen deprivation therapy.

Chapter 9 of the newly launched and readily available free of charge book, “Advanced Prostate Cancer, a guide for men and their families” contains detailed information about the specific steps a new treatment must go through in order to be given the green light to be tested in humans. At the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia we will do whatever possible to inform you about the new clinical trials that are available in an area near you. However, here are some recommended questions you may want to ask when considering a clinical trial (1):

Which treatments are being tested and why?
What are the benefits to me or to others?
What extra tests apart from my normal treatment will I be involved in?
What are the possible risks or side effects?
How long will the trial last?
Will I need to go to hospital for treatment?
What will I do if any problem occurs while I am in the trial?
Can the trial affect my options for future treatment?
Can I withdraw from the trial if I change my mind?
Can I be on more than one trial at a time? 
 
(1)  “Advanced Prostate Cancer, a guide for men and their families”, APCC, 2009


Men with castration resistant prostate cancer in Australia may be eligible for a new trial that has recently begun recruiting.  The trial, ALSYMPCA, is  an international phase III clinical study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of ‘Alpharadin’, in patients with hormone refractory prostate cancer (HRPC) and skeletal metastases. The study will measure the impact on survival of ‘Alpharadin’ in over 700 patients across 20 countries. 

‘Alpharadin’ is a first-in-class, alpha-emitting pharmaceutical (AEP) and a highly targeted treatment for patients with bone metastases  (Ref: Nilsson et al, The Lancet Oncology, July 2007; 8:7, 587-594. Bruland et al, Current Radiopharmaceuticals; 2008: 1: 203-208)

ALSYMPCA is already listed on www.clinicaltrials.gov and has recently been added to other clinical trial search websites such as www.anzctr.org,  www.studien.de in Germany, www.cancer.org.uk in the UK and www.cancerworld.org.

We are keen to ensure that eligible patients in Australia who would like to be considered for the trial do not miss out on recruitment.

As background to the trial, attached is the summary as used for the US website – www.clinicaltrials.gov – as well as a list of the trial centres involved in the study. As background to ‘Alpharadin’ itself, I attach a link to a recent article in ‘Lancet Oncology’.

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(07)70147-X/abstract

We suggest that patients who wish to be considered for inclusion in the ALSYMPCA trial, should either:

a)       ask their GP to contact the hospital closest to them, which is involved in the trial to discuss their suitability for this trial. Patients should please go to www.algeta.com to see a list of the hospitals. Should their GP need further information on the study, the following can be contacted : Bjorg Bolstad or Gillies O’Bryan-Tear at Algeta (+47 23 00 79 90) or by emailing alpharadin@algeta.com).

or:

b)       ask their oncologist to contact the hospital closest to them, which is involved in the trial.

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