‘Lazarus’ drug is saving prostate cancer patients

SCORES of men with the most lethal form of prostate cancer have been ‘brought back from the brink of death’ by a drug found to work where all others have failed in a groundbreaking trial.

Some patients whose bodies were riddled with cancer have had ‘Lazaruslike’ recoveries – and now show no visible signs of disease, according to the doctor leading research into the treatment.

The medication, called pembrolizumab, is a type of immunotherapy that harnesses the body’s immune system to seek out and destroy tumour cells. It has already been shown to be highly effective in tackling other forms of the disease, including skin and lung cancer.

In Ireland, Vicky Phelan began taking the drug in April and sees it as her last hope in her fight against cervical cancer. She is the first cervical cancer patient in the country to access the drug.

Now, a new study led by The Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden Hospital in London has found the drug has ‘amazing’ results in those with prostate cancer.

The disease is the most common form of male cancer: one in eight will be diagnosed with it during their lifetime. About 3,300 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in Ireland every year.

The trial looked at 258 men who had undergone numerous other treatments to no avail. In many of them, the cancer had spread to their bones, usually a sign there is no more hope.

But according to results being presented tomorrow at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago, more than a third of those treated with pembrolizumab were still alive after a year. And one in 10 were still benefiting from it.

Researchers found those with the best response had types of prostate cancer with ‘ultramutant cancer cells’ which change their genetic make-up quickly. Among these types are those linked to the BRCA gene, the mutation carried by actress Angelina Jolie.

Leading prostate cancer expert Professor Johann de Bono, of the Institute for Cancer Research, said: ‘We hope for a cure but we can’t call it that yet.

‘However, many of the men who were at death’s door have been on the drug for more than 18 months and show no signs of the disease.

‘Some of the patients on this trial are like Lazarus – they were dying of advanced disease. Some of them were almost too unwell to have any treatment at all and they have been resurrected.’

Further trials will be needed before the drug is approved for routine use for prostate cancer.