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The switch from chemotherapy to hormone treatments for prostate cancer

A safer and more immune-friendly precision-medicine approach for cancer

06-May-2020

Key points from article :

Men with advanced prostate cancer can take highly targeted hormone therapies at home.

Instead of coming into hospital for chemotherapy, NHS England says.

It will relieve pressure on NHS, helps cancer treatments to continue amidst pandemic.

Drugs are also smarter, kinder treatments and could extend the lives of many more patients.

Enzalutamide blocks effect of testosterone on prostate-cancer cells, prevents growing.

Patients intolerant to this will be given abiraterone, which stops testosterone production.

Doctors can now prescribe them when a patient is first diagnosed.

Unlike chemotherapy, the two drugs have no significant effects on patients' immune system.

"It will greatly lower the risk of exposing vulnerable patients to the coronavirus."

"Just one example of how we are adapting our approach to help thousands of cancer patients."

Mentioned in this article:

Click on resource name for more details.

NHS

UK National Health Service, publicly funded healthcare system in England

Nicholas James

Professor of Clinical Oncology specialising in urological cancer.

Peter Johnson

National clinical director for cancer, Cancer Research UK

The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR)

One of the world’s most influential cancer research organizations

Topics mentioned on this page:
Cancer