By Jacob GoldsteinSeveral experimental drugs may soon be able to help patients with prostate cancer whose disease doesn’t respond to hormone therapy. That lack of response marks the last, deadly stage of the disease. Only one drug, Sanofi-Aventis’s Taxotere, is approved for men in this stage, and median survival for patients on the drug is only 19 months. Cowen and Company has a report out today on some possible new drugs to treat this condition. Here are the key points.The FDA is reviewing an application for satraplatin, an oral chemotherapy drug jointly developed by GPC Biotech,lacoste obuvki, Pharmion and Spectrum Pharmaceuticals. The key trial of the drug, which enrolled 950 patients who had already had a course of Taxotere or a similar drug, found that it improved progression-free survival (PFS) — but not by much. Those who received the drug had a median PFS of 11.1 weeks, while those who did not had a median PFS of 9.7 weeks. The drug is likely to be approved, according to Cowen. But its effects are “clinically modest” and forthcoming data is not likely to show imporvements in overall survival, the report concludes.A mid-stage trial of Avastin, Genentech’s drug for lung and colorectal cancer, is examining whether the drug improves survival when paired with Taxotere. There’s not much data to go on yet, but Cowen gives the drug a “slightly greater than 50%” chance of success, based largely on its success in other kinds of cancer when paired with chemotherapy.Novacea’s Asentar, a high-dose, oral vitamin D drug that is also being tested in combination with Taxotere. Early trials have showed some signs that the drug may improve survival. It’s now being tested in a 900-patient pivotal trial, with data expected next year.Abiraterone,nike shox sko, from Cougar Biotechnology, works by driving testosterone down to levels lower than those achieved with conventional hormone treatment. The drug is still in early-stage development, but a small recent trial was encouraging; the report calls abiraterone “one of the most exciting drugs in development.”Prostate cancer experts consulted by Cowen suggest that Provenge, the cancer vaccine developed by Dendreon and currently under review by the FDA, has “not yet demonstrated efficacy sufficient for approval.” An FDA advisory committee recently voted to recommend approving the drug. But “it would be a disservice to patients, physicians and payors to approve Provenge” without the clearer data that is expected from an ongoing study from a 500-patient trial,Louis vuitton topanky, the Cowen report says.

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