The lives of men with metastatic prostate cancer can be extended by two to three years by determining which drug is most effective on the basis of DNA research.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. Normally, patients receive radiation or chemotherapy. But the tailored approach through DNA analysis improves the outlook significantly.
Medical oncologist Niven Mehra from Radboudumc explains to RTL News how the treatment works. “We take a piece of tumor tissue from men with metastatic prostate cancer, which contains detailed information about the type of cancer cells.”
“Mutations cause prostate cancer cells to develop differently in everyone. Therefore, treatment should be targeted at the person. For a prostate cancer patient, a drug that is normally used for lung or skin cancer, for example, can work effectively. ”
Research in 75 patients shows that the approach extends life by two to three years. “In all these cases, the treatment was only started when the patient was finished, so when chemo and radiation no longer work. A patient is then physically exhausted. ”
Immediately after diagnosis, the treatment would have even more effect, says the oncologist. “We are now going to investigate this by treating about 600 patients with prostate cancer on the basis of DNA research.”
Bron (nen): RTL News
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