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Results of a 10 year study of prostate cancer drug Zoladex (Goserelin) involving 977 patients conducted by by the clinical research arm of the radiology group have found that this drug improves survival in men who were treated with this drug immediately after radiation therapy compared to those who waited to take the drug. The study was published in the April issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics
Zoladex, is sold by AstraZeneca Plc, and helps to reduces levels of sex hormones known as testosterone in men. It is also effective in reducing the female sex hormone estrogen in women and is also used to treat hormone-receptor positive breast cancer in pre-menopausal women.
The drug may cause side effects like bone loss, loss of libido and breast tenderness.
The following are the highlights from the study for Zoledex immediately after surgery Vs Zoledex when patients waited until tumor progression were:
- 10 year survival 49% Vs 39%
- Tumor progression 22% Vs 38%
"Men diagnosed with prostate cancer can now expect to live longer and live a life free from a recurrence of their disease," Dr. Colleen Lawton of the Medical College of Wisconsin, a co-author of the study, said in a statement.
Dr. Sucha Asbell, another study researcher, said the trial results should encourage earlier use of a similar prostate cancer drug.
"Zoladex and Lupron work exactly the same way and both cost about $400 per month," said Asbell, head of radiation oncology at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia.
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