Dr. Crawford on Sipuleucel-T in Advanced Prostate Cancer

E. David Crawford, MD, professor in Surgery and Radiation Oncology and the head of Urologic Oncology at the University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, discusses the effectiveness of the immunotherapy sipuleucel-T (Provenge) as a treatment for men with advanced prostate cancer.

Overall, Crawford notes, sipuleucel-T is an effective agent that extends life with minimal side effects. This agent was approved based on a 4.1-month median improvement in overall survival (OS), as observed in the phase III IMPACT trial. In a more thorough examination of this trial, subgroups of patients were identified who were more likely to benefit from treatment.

In the subgroup analysis, patients with PSA levels lower than 21 with few bone lesions experienced a significant prolongation in OS from 4.1 months to approximately 18, Crawford notes. This data reflects the fact that immunotherapy tends to work better earlier in the disease, Crawford states.