Regarding the most prevalent malignancies in males, what's new?
Medical research continues to aim for more potent cancer medicines. New approaches that can treat cancer sooner and improve results are still being discovered in labs and research trials. What then has garnered the greatest attention in the fields of colon, lung, and prostate cancer—the three malignancies that affect men most frequently?
Cancer of the prostate
The use of hormone treatments to treat cancer in both advanced and early stages has attracted increasing attention. A few active trials are noteworthy. For example, patients at high risk of cancer relapse are receiving rigorous hormone treatment both before and after prostate surgery as part of the PROTEUS experiment.
In high-risk patients who have already received radiation and hormonal therapy but still have detectable PSA levels, an analogous approach would be to increase the dosage of hormonal medication.
Following prostate surgery, some individuals with high-risk prostate cancer are also receiving hormonal therapy. Using genetic testing of prostate tissue to identify men who have a high risk of cancer recurrence, ERADICATE research is investigating the potential benefits of aggressive hormone therapy for these men following a prostatectomy. (The outcomes of the ERADICATE study and the PROTEUS experiment are anticipated in a few years.)
Treatment for prostate cancer that has already spread has also advanced recently. "In these cases, the common treatment approach is radiation to the prostate and intensive hormonal treatments," the statement reads.
Lung cancer
Treatment improvements for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which accounts for 80% of all lung cancer cases, have been many over the last ten years. Specifically, novel medications that either target cancer cells or trigger an immune response to combat the disease are being utilized either as adjuvant therapy—which is administered after surgery—or as a prelude to it.
Chemotherapy combined with immunotherapy (drugs that trigger the immune system) has proven particularly beneficial for neoadjuvant treatment.
He cites the use of chemotherapy in addition to the medication nivolumab (Opdivo) prior to surgery as an example, which lowers the proportion of tumor cells that remain active following tumor excision. Similar to this, administering atezolizumab (Tecentriq), which the FDA authorized in 2021, following chemotherapy and surgery has also been shown to enhance results.
Other specific medications target cancer cells that have specific genetic alterations that change the DNA of the cells. Osimertinib (Tagrisso), a medication that cures cancer with certain EGFR mutations, is a recent example. After surgery, it has been shown to have better control over lung cancer.
The next stage of treating lung cancer is to determine whether to address specific mutations other than EGFR with targeted therapy, either before or following surgery. Current trials are also investigating the potential extended function of immunotherapy. For instance, participants in the long-term (a few more years) ALCHEMIST chemo-IO (ACCIO) research get treatment with chemotherapy and either immunotherapy or immunotherapy plus chemotherapy and more immunotherapy.
Cancer of the colon
This is not very encouraging news regarding colon cancer. There haven't been any significant advancements in the treatment of late-stage colon cancer in recent years. This is an additional justification for males to get routine screenings for colorectal cancer in its early stages and polyps. While immunotherapy is ineffective for the majority of colon cancer patients, it may be helpful for the 1% to 3% of individuals who have a certain genetic mutation known as microsatellite instability. A short DNA sequence that is repeated repeatedly in a row is called a microsatellite. When a flaw prevents the DNA from being accurately replicated, instability results. Immunotherapy is superior to chemotherapy in situations of instability.
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