Preliminary results from a trial examining the effects of cabozantinib, one of a family of drugs known as wide-spectrum tyrosine kinase inhibitors, showed dramatic improvement for many men with prostate cancer metastases to the bones.
The early data from this study, recently presented at the Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in Orlando, Florida, showed that those men who were able to take the medication for the full 12 week course were likely to show decreased disease activity in their bones on imaging studies such as a bone scan. Reportedly, approximately 75% of the men had disease control after 12 weeks.
The study's authors point out that the drug appeared to have no effect on the primary tumor and that there was a fairly high number of adverse events associated with the drug including fatigue (71% of men) and decreased appetite (52%) among others.
The preliminary findings were impressive such that the trial was ended early and an expanded trial has already begun recruiting new participants.
The first author of the abstract detailing the group's findings was Dr. David C. Smith of the University of Michigan.
