The researchers at the University of Adelaide claim that they have developed a new treatment of advanced prostrate cancer. The lead researchers, Dr Lisa Butler of the University’s Dame Roma Mitchell Cancer Research Laboratories and Professor Wayne Tilley, founding member of the Freemasons Foundation Centre for Men’s Health, claim that the new treatment have lesser side effects as compared to the existing treatments of the prostrate cancer. The new treatment is the combination of new drugs at lower doses with existing prostate cancer drugs.

Professor Tilley says that androgens are responsible for the growth of prostate cancer. In traditional treatments, production of androgens is suppressed. But sometimes the tumor starts growing due to resistance to hormone deprivation. He added that men undergoing hormone deprivation therapy can also experience significant side effects, including reduced libido, impotence, hot flushes, tiredness and sweating, gradual decrease in body hair, reduced bone and muscle strength and cognitive changes.

Dr Lisa Butler said, “We can now confirm that a very low level of bicalutamide is capable of inhibiting cancer cell proliferation by more than 10-fold when combined with either vorinostat or 17AAG, making our current treatments much more effective and causing fewer side effects.”

During the study, a combination of drugs including an anti-androgen, bicalutamide and the inhibitors 17AAG and vorinostat successfully destroyed all traces of prostrate cancer cells in laboratory. The drugs are ineffective on prostrate cancer cell if used in isolation.