LUGANO, Switzerland – A novel combination of well-known drugs prolongs survival in patients with hormone/castration-sensitive prostate cancer, according to late breaking research presented at the ESMO Congress 2021. (1,2) The PEACE-1 and STAMPEDE studies found that the addition of abiraterone acetate plus prednisolone (AAP) to standard therapy lengthened survival compared to standard therapy alone.

Commenting on the findings, Dr. Maria De Santis, Chair of Interdisciplinary Urological Oncology, Department of Urology, Charité Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany said: “The findings have the potential to be implemented in our daily practice right away as we do not have to wait for the approval of a new drug. The clearly positive results are reassuring and should convince patients and physicians to intensify the treatment of patients with metastatic and high-risk locally advanced hormone/castration-sensitive prostate cancer early on. I expect this kind of treatment intensification to be implemented as a standard of care.”

For men with metastatic prostate cancer, androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) was the standard of care for decades. In 2015, docetaxel (a chemotherapy agent) was shown to improve survival when added to ADT and in 2017, abiraterone (a next generation hormonal agent) was also shown to improve survival when added to ADT. Until now, though, it was unknown whether one or both agents should be added to ADT to achieve the best outcomes. PEACE-1 found that using three drugs upfront is better than just two in men with metastatic prostate cancer, not only to postpone cancer progression, but also to prolong life. When AAP was added to ADT and docetaxel, men experienced an additional 25% reduction in the risk of death compared to ADT and docetaxel alone.

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