[off-topic] Prostate-Cancer Treatment Is Endorsed by FDA Panel

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BlankProstate-Cancer Treatment Is Endorsed by FDA Panel

A Food and Drug Administration panel of outside medical experts backed an

experimental prostate-cancer treatment designed to stimulate a person's immune

system to fight the cancer, despite concerns it might not be that effective.

The panel unanimously said the first-of-a-kind treatment, Provenge, by Dendreon

Corp., of Seattle, was safe. It also said the FDA should consider approving

Provenge despite two clinical studies showing it didn't meet study goals. The

Provenge studies showed the treatment failed to meet a goal of reducing

so-called time to progression, or the advancement, of cancer.

However, a subsequent analysis of one of the studies, which involved 127 men,

showed those receiving Provenge lived about 4.5 months longer than men not

receiving the treatment. Most panel members said that survival data suggests

that the treatment might work.

Provenge is considered a therapeutic vaccine that is made using a patient's own

white blood cells -- combining them with a protein and infusing this back into a

person. Existing therapies are aimed at killing cancer cells or choking off

blood supply and other proteins involved in cancer growth.

Full story

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117517805142353190.html?mod=health_home_stories