J&J drug Erleada reduces risk of prostate cancer spread, death

Johnson & Johnson’s drug Erleada, when combined with hormone therapy before and after prostate surgery, significantly improved cancer elimination rates and reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 20% in high-risk patients, according to late-stage trial data presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago. The study also found that a full year of Erleada treatment nearly doubled the time before subsequent treatment was needed, cutting recurrence and death risk by 29%." "article": "Johnson & Johnson’s prostate cancer drug Erleada, when used alongside hormone-blocking therapy six months before and after prostate surgery, improved cancer elimination rates and reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 20%, according to late-stage trial data presented on May 31 at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago. The study, which followed patients for over five years, found that those receiving the combination regimen were nine times more likely to have little to no detectable cancer in the prostate at surgery compared to those given testosterone-blocking therapy alone. The trial involved over 2,000 patients with high-risk localized or locally advanced prostate cancer. At surgery, 8.9% of patients on the combination treatment had minimal or no detectable cancer, compared to just 1% in the hormone therapy-only group. Currently, surgery and radiation therapy are standard treatments for these patients, but nearly half experience cancer recurrence requiring additional treatment. A separate analysis of patients receiving Erleada and hormone therapy for a full year before and after surgery showed they went an average of six years before needing further treatment—nearly double the time for those on hormone therapy alone. This extended treatment also reduced recurrence and death risk by 29%. Erleada, chemically known as apalutamide, is an androgen receptor pathway inhibitor (ARPI) that blocks signals driving prostate cancer growth. No ARPIs are currently approved for localized high-risk prostate cancer with surgery or radiation, making these findings potentially practice-changing. J&J plans to seek global regulatory approval for the combination therapy in earlier-stage prostate cancer treatment. The drug’s safety profile matched prior studies, with common side effects including hot flushes, urinary incontinence, and erectile dysfunction. Erleada was first approved in the U.S. in 2018 for use with hormone therapy that suppresses testosterone, which fuels prostate cancer growth. About 40% of the 330,000 annual U.S. prostate cancer diagnoses are classified as high-risk.