There are about 150,000 men worldwide who are among the most challenging prostate cancer patients to treat. Their cancer is aggressive enough to defy standard hormonal therapy, but has not yet spread to the point where it can be seen on scans. The patients are stuck in a tough limbo, which often ends too quickly with the cancer metastasizing to their bones, lymph nodes, or other organs, sometimes causing intense pain. But for the first time, researchers may be on to something. Results from two independent clinical trails show that two different drugs help these patients, giving them about two more years before their cancer metastasizes. This means the patients would have two additional years before pain and other symptoms spread and they need chemotherapy or other treatments. The studies involved more than 1,200 patients in countries around the world and used very similar drugs, both androgen receptor inhibitors, which block testosterone from binding to prostate cancer cells and entering them, according to The New York Times. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men worldwide. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2018, there will be about 164,690 new cases and about 29,430 deaths.
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