A New drug is now available in Australia for men battling the most deadly
form of advanced prostate cancer.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration has registered the drug darolutamide
(sold as Nubeqa) for men with advanced metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate
cancer. The drug is taken as a tablet twice daily and works by starving
cancer cells of the hormones they need to grow and divide.
Metastasis means the cancer has spread to a different part of the body from
where it started. The drug has been approved for use as a “triplet therapy”
where it is taken in combination with chemotherapy and a hormone therapy
injection.
A major international study confirms this method not only extends life but
improves a patient’s quality of life.
More than 1300 men worldwide , including patients from Australia, took part
in the ARASENS trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine a
year ago. Further promising results were published last month.
Oncologist Professor Arun Azad said the TGA registration “offers a large
group of men, who previously options , access to an effective new
treatment.”
