EPI-7386 Under Development for Metastatic, Hormone-Resistant Prostate Cancer.

EPI-7386 is a new androgen receptor inhibitor, selected as Essa Pharma’s lead candidate therapy for metastatic castration (hormone)-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). EPI-7386 works differently from current hormonal therapies by targeting a different region of the androgen receptor: instead of preventing androgens from binding the receptor, EPI-7386 binds to the N-terminal domain needed to activate the androgen receptor signaling cascade. Through this novel mechanism, EPI-7386 is able to block the androgen receptor even in cells that acquired resistance to other androgen receptor inhibitors, like Xtandi (enzalutamide). Essa expects to begin clinical trials for EPI-7386 by April 2020.

Christmas 2018 and Prostate Cancer

Display from Arcadia, Florida; BJ Gabrielsen photo

I’ll bet you have never seen the words “Christmas” and “prostate cancer” linked before. Let me start by addressing some personal thoughts about Christmas. When Jesus was born, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph, the father of Jesus, and explicitly told him to name the baby “Immanuel” which means “God with us” (Matthew 1:23 and prophesied hundreds of years earlier in Isaiah 7:14.) Consider the phrase “God with us”. My Bible tells me that God created all things. On a macro scale, this includes universes upon universes, galaxies after galaxies, stars without number. On a micro scale, when one looks at a little ant and consider that this insect who we often step on accidently, has complex biological systems involving brain, nervous, reproductive, sensory and communication systems. The same God created these things.  My little finite mind cannot comprehend the enormous scope of God. Not only that, but we are told that Jesus Himself was an integral part of this creation process. “For in Him, all things were created, both in the heavens and on the earth, visible and invisible,…..through Him and for Him.” (Colossians 1:16). This same Jesus has now taken on human form as a child. Amazing!!!

So why did He do this? Matthew 1:21 tells us that the same angel told Joseph to name Him Jesus, “for it is He who will save His people (us) from their sins.”  Why did He have to do that? First, because all of us humans have violated at least one of the ten commandments, probably more than once, a human action called “sin” (not just “mistakes”  or “errors”). But couldn’t God forgive eveybody?  He does forgive our sins when we confess them to Him  (1 John 1:9). He could but that would violate one of God’s unchangeable characteristics, namely His justice. Could you conceive of an earthly judge presiding over a courtroom packed with convicted law-breakers just exclaiming “you’re all forgiven, have a nice day?” Would that be justice? Hardly. A price has to be paid by the offenders. As compensation for our sinful nature and actions, God required a sinless sacrifice, namely Jesus, who we know led a sinless life, died by crucifixion as payment for our sins and was resurrected three days later. The resurrection guarantees us who put our faith and trust in Him the promise of eternal life and also denotes Jesus’ deity as compared with His humanity. One imperfect human being dying for another human would not be a worthy sacrifice.

So, the birth of Jesus then has the significance of an eternal, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving God coming to earth, making a personal relationship with Him and God the Father a reality by placing our faith in Jesus and why He came. It furthermore guarantees us eternal life with new bodies such as Jesus possessed after He was resurrected from the dead, in a new heaven and a new earth (which God will one day re-make). (See Revelation 21:1). This can best be summed up in the familiar verse John 3:16. “For God so loved the world” (and all of us included), “that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him” (viz. puts our faith and trust in Him to forgive our sins and desire to serve Him) “will not perish but have everlasting life.”

So how do I make this Christmas message of “God with us” personal as it relates to our imperfect, cancer-prone bodies? Psalm 139 states that this same God, whom we can know personally through a relationship with His Son, Jesus, knows each one of us individually and intrically. In fact, the Psalmist says, “You (God) did form my inward parts, You did weave me in my mother’s womb. ….I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” (verses 13-14). I find it curious that given the amazingly intricate double helical, coil-like, complex shape of our DNA and RNA, the Bible uses the word “weave” or “woven” to describe our  body’s construction. So the God who made us and Jesus who is both God and man, can relate to us on an intimate personal level as we battle our diseases. The name Immanuel, God with us, means we can approach Jesus with our broken bodies. He may chose to heal us or sustain now, either through His direct intervention or those of medical personnel, or fulfill the ultimate healing in a new heaven and new earth with a new body. God’s eyes “has seen my unformed substance” and the days that were ordained for me have been written in God’s book (paraphrase from Psalm 139:16). To know this God personally through the child Jesus whose birth we celebrate at this time, allows us to release our fears, anxieties, apprehensions and nervous sorrows. It is a reason to truly have a “Merry Christmas” and a healthy New Year.

Remember Isaiah the prophet foretold hundreds of years prior to Jesus” birth that, “for a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” (Is. 9:6). For information on obtaining a personal relationship with God, see the following link.

 

 

 

Seven Causes of Elevated PSA Levels

  1. Age. In general, a normal PSA range for men in their 40’s is 0-2.5 ng/mL; men in their 50’s, 0-4 ng/mL; 60’s, 0-4.5 ng/mL; and 70’s, 0-6.5 ng/mL. Ethnicity may shift these values slightly as well.
  2. Prostate size. A man with a larger-than-normal prostate gland may have a higher PSA level. A digital rectal exam by your physician will detect this.
  3. Prostate inflamation. Bacterial infections e.g. prostatitis produce inflamed, tender or swollen glands thereby elevating one’s PSA level.
  4. Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH). BPH is an enlarged prostate and differs from simply having a larger-than-usual gland. It is common in men over 50 and may make urination or ejaculation difficult. Additional tests can confirm BPH.
  5. Urinary tract infection or irritation. This infection as well as irritation caused by medical procedures involving the urethra or bladder may cause the gland to produce more PSA. If any such procedures have been performed, give the area some time to heal before running a PSA test.
  6. Prostate stimulation. Stimulation such as through sexual activity, ejaculation or even having a digital rectal exam by your physician may affect PSA results.
  7. Medications. Some medications can artificially lower the PSA, such as finasteride (Proscar or Propecia) or dutasteride (Avodart). Remind your doctor of any of these medications you may be taking so they can factor them in when assessing your PSA results.                                                                                                                                                  This information was obtained from the Prostate Cancer Foundation, www.pcf.org.

Rubraca (Rucaparib) Shrank Tumors in Nearly Half of Advanced Prostate Cancer Patients with BRCA Mutations.

Rubraca (rucaparib), Clovis Oncology‘s oral PARP inhibitor, shrank tumors in 44% of metastatic hormone-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients with BRCA mutations included in the Phase 2 TRITON2 clinical trial. The treatment, which is already approved for ovarian cancer, also reduced PSA levels — a biomarker of prostate cancer — in 51.1% of patients with BRCA mutations. The findings were presented recently at the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2018 Congress  and other meetings by Wassim Abida, a medical oncologist at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, and principal investigator for the Phase 2 study.

About a quarter of advanced prostate cancers show mutations in BRCA1BRCA2 or other genes encoding proteins that repair damaged DNA. These tumors are more sensitive to further DNA damage, and often respond well to treatments that block other proteins involved in aiding DNA repair. The PARP enzymes are more involved when BRCA proteins are not functioning properly, and PARP inhibitors have shown great promise in breast and ovarian cancer patients with BRCA mutations. Now, data from the TRITON2 Phase 2 trial (NCT02952534) shows that Rubraca also is effective in prostate cancer patients with such mutations.

The Phase 2 trial is testing the efficacy and safety of Rubraca (600 mg twice a day) in 85 mCRPC patients who have inherited or acquired BRCA mutations, or in one of the 13 DNA repair genes known to increase susceptibility to PARP inhibitors, and who were already treated with androgen receptor-directed therapy (e.g. Xtandi or Zytiga) and taxane-based chemotherapy (e.g. taxotere). Depending on their disease and mutation status, patients were divided in three groups: those with BRCA or ATM mutations and with measurable disease; those with BRCA or ATM mutations without measurable disease; and, those with mutations in other DNA repair genes, with or without measurable disease. The primary goal of the study is to determine the proportion of patients with measureable disease who respond to Rubraca, and those without measureable disease who achieve a significant lowering of their PSA levels. Secondary measures include duration of response, time to disease progression or death, overall survival and safety measures.

After a median follow-up of 5.7 months, 46 out of 85 patients were evaluable for responses. Among the 25 patients with BRCA mutations, 44% had seen their tumor shrink, after only a median of 3.7 months on treatment. At the time of the analysis, more than half of patients were still responding to Rubraca. The results also showed that 51.1% of patients with BRCA  mutations saw a reduction in their PSA levels. The most common adverse events were fatigue, nausea, anemia, and constipation. Five patients discontinued Rubraca due to a treatment-related adverse effect, and one patient died of disease progression.

Enrollment in TRITON2 is ongoing. The trial expects to evaluate about 160 patients from at least 100 worldwide locations, and to study other mutations besides BRCA1/2.

Findings from the trial have led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to grant breakthrough therapy designation to Rubraca as a treatment for mCRPC patients with BRCA mutations, earlier this month.This FDA designation is given to speed the development of medications that might treat serious conditions and potentially provide an improvement on available therapies.  It has now been shown that PARP inhibitors are a validated therapeutic class in oncology in multiple tumor types, and these new data underscore the benefit that Rubraca may provide for men with advanced, BRCA-mutant castration-resistant prostate cancer.

This information represents a compilation of two articles published in the 10/24/18 Prostate Cancer News Today.

As Christians, Do We Believe That Jesus Can Do What He Has Promised?

Today I awaited the result of my next test for prostate-specific antigen, better known as PSA. In the past, this wait has many times been accompanied by some degree of anxiety. But this time, I had purposed in my heart and mind to release the outcome to the Lord’s care whatever the result may be. Which reminded me of a recent devotional from Dr. David Jeremiah entitled “I Didn’t Know”.  It focused on the familiar story of Jesus’ disciples being in a boat and encountering a storm.

During the three years the disciples spent with Jesus, they had personally witness Him multiply five loaves and two fish to feed thousands, heal the sick and lame, cast out evil spirits and even raise the dead. Many times the disciples seemed to say “I didn’t know He could do that”. Another thing they didn’t know was that Jesus could walk on water – and allow them to do the same. In this instance, during a vicious storm, they spotted Jesus walking on the water toward them. Peter boldly said, “Lord, if it is You, bid me to come to You on the water.” (Matt: 14:28)  I recently read that the word “if” could better be translated by the word “since“. The word “if” can sometimes carry with it some degree of uncertainty. But the term “since Jesus said it,”  implies a higher degree of trust.  Jesus implored Peter to come but he began to sink in the waves when he took his eyes off of Jesus. However, Matthew 14:31,  records “and immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught Peter and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?'”

Life with Jesus is a never-ending discovery of His love and power if only we will trust Him. If we practice the commands to “trust and obey”, a beautiful cycle begins. According to Dr. Charles Stanley, “trusting the Lord makes obedience easier, and obedience produces ever-increasing trust.” Perhaps we may have never trusted God completely for unusual needs, medical or otherwise. May we explore, trust and discover life with a miracle-working Lord who can deliver what He has promised. Remember the words of this familiar hymn. “Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take Him at His Word. Just to rest upon His promise, just to know “thus saith the Lord.” To start a personal relationship with God, see the following link. By the way, my own test result came back as good as I could have hoped for.

 

Can God Use Our Prostate Cancer? Yes He Can!!!

As I write this post, it constitutes the 1,000,000+ hit on this website which I can only trust has been a help and a blessing to some of you since I was prompted to share my personal story via a blog.

As I write it, it has been 23 years since I was first diagnosed with prostate cancer. While I am classified as having advanced disease, I am asymptomatic, am feeling well and my PSA is undetectable. But there will probably come a day when I will have to read my own website admonitions and apply them to my own life. Can God use my (our) disease to glorify Him? Emphatically, Yes!

What has God told me to do about my condition? The answers are three-fold: a) to yield it to Him; b) to trust Him completely in what He has told me in His Word, and, c) be cognizant of any opportunity to share my story with others that regardless of any outcome, God is to be glorified. In the Old Testament, the prophet Elijah was alone told by God to confront the hundreds of prophets of the false god Baal, whom many of the Israelites had been worshipping as instructed by the evil King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. First, Baal’s prophets placed a sacrificial ox on an altar and in a vain attempt to induce Baal to ignite the sacrifice, they invoked the name of their god to the point of yelling, and cutting themselves for hours to no avail. It now was Elijah’s turn and he went several steps further. He put his ox on a stone altar, made a trench around it, put wood on top of the altar, laid the ox on the wood, poured several pitchers of water on the ox and saturated the wood around it. He did the latter not once but three times. Then he filled the surrounding trench with water. The goal was of course to ignite the burnt offering as a sacrifice to God. Then interestingly enough, Elijah did not pray the obvious prayer namely for fire to come down and ignite the offering which is what one might expect to pray. He merely prayed, “O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel (Jacob), let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am your servant and that I have done all these things at Thy word. Answer me, O’ Lord, answer me that this people may know that You O’ Lord are God and that You would turn their heart back again.” (I Kings 18: 36-37). Notice that Elijah did not pray specifically for fire to fall. But it did, spontaneously consuming the offering, the wood, the stones, the dust and licked up all the water in the trench.

How does this relate to offering my prostate cancer? Like Elijah used a sacrificial ox to demonstrate God’s power, I am to lay my body down as an offering according to Romans 12:1 which states “I beseech you therefore, by the mercies of God to present your body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is your reasonable service of worship.” I should then be attentive to whatever circumstance I would find myself where my personal disease sacrifice could be viewed by others including any medical personnel. While it is normal to do so, I should not pray that God would heal my disease according to my plans and scenario. Remember Elijah did not pray for God to send fire and devour the animal sacrifice. But instead, I should pray like Elijah, listen and follow whatever God has told me, and pray that God would somehow demonstrate His presence and power through my disease and thereby be glorifed. Then step back and leave the results to Him.

Jesus Himself made a similar prayer in John 12:23-28. He knew He would soon undergo a painful death by crucifixion and be totally cut off from God, His Father and bear the penalty of the sins of everyone who ever lived and would ever live. Jesus demonstrated His humanity by saying in v. 27, “Now my soul has become troubled and what shall I say, ‘Father save me from this hour?'” In other words, He asked God if He could be spared all this pain and suffering? But then like Elijah, He concludes “But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Thy Name.'” Like Elijah and Jesus, may the same be said of us. God can indeed be glorified through our disease state. If you, the reader, cannot identify clearly with this scenario, you too can have an intimate and personal relationship with God much like Elijah. See the following link.

Thank you all for putting this site over the millonth mark.

What to Do with Our Worry

When all is going well, I don’t usually get anxious except perhaps when I am due for my next PSA test or scan.  Faced with upcoming medical decisions and testing, I confess that in the past I have had a bad habit of anticipating the worst scenario because then the final outcome can only be an improvement. I know that has been a very negative and distrusting way of thinking. Worry often creeps into all of our lives seemingly without warning. However, over the last 23 years, I have learned to release these events and results to God. So the following might be a good word for all of us.

When we worry we are focused on possibilities that have not yet happened or are beyond our control. In the weakness of our fears, we can be comforted knowing nothing comes into our lives apart from God’s knowledge. It’s an opportunity to accept His offer to be our strength and hope regardless of what happens.

I know it can sound like a cliche but remember God is in charge. Nothing happens beyond the knowledge and control of God. When we worry, we are actually acknowledging the truth that in ourselves we are not adequate to meet the demands of life. This is our moment to remind ourselves of some important truths about God. He is everywhere. “Can a man hide himself so I do not see Him, and do I not fill the heavens and the earth declares the Lord?” (Jeremiah 23:23-4). He knows everything. “The Lord looks from heaven and sees all the sons of men” (Psalm 33:13). He is all-powerful. “Jesus said ‘with men this is impossible but with God all things are possible.'”(Matthew 19:26).

Believe He can carry our burdens. But how do we place our cares on the shoulders of God? The answer lies in what we are trusting – in our feelings or in the character of our all-powerful, trustworthy God. “Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.” (Psalm 55:22).

Admit He is greater than our fears. In Psalm 31, David wrote of being forsaken by his friends and attacked by his enemies. Yet he could say in verse 15 “my times are in Your hand”. David knew God’s goodness and love from experience.

Trust He can sustain us. Advertisements for most things from investments to medicinals all come with disclaimers. Some ads on TV and radio recite disclaimers so fast their words are intelligible. In this broken world we have no guarantees except that God and His Word can be trusted. He wants us to draw on the depths of His love and grace.

Count on Him to never forsake us. If we are God’s children, we are never apart from our Father’s care. “He Himself has said ‘I will never desert you nor will I ever forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5).

If you cannot personally relate to these truths and principles, you can have a personal relationship with the God who stands behind them. See the following link.

The above was adapted from the Our Daily Bread monthly devotional series, August, 2018.

Gadolinium Contrast Agents in Prostate MRI’s and the New FDA Warning

For the most part, MRI imaging for prostate cancer is safe. In some cases, contrast agents are needed to be injected into the human body in order to get a better picture or scan. Many of the contrast agents utilized contain the heavy metal, gadolinium. These injected agents help physicians see internal organs, blood vessels and other tissues more clearly.

In late 2017, the FDA declared that all gadolinium-containing contrast agents must carry the warning about how they could be retained in the body and potentially cause kidney injury. Most of the gadolinium is eliminated by the kidneys. If one’s kidney function is normal, there has been no direct link with these contrast agents to any specific health issue.  The brand name Gadavist (gadobutrol) is often used for MRI screening of prostate cancer and active surveillance. Much lower levels of this agent are used compared to other agents. The FDA is now asking the manufacturers of gadolinium agents to conduct more human and laboratory studies to determine the safety of these agents. Thus far, the one real adverse effect noticed with these agents is in a small group of patients with pre-existing kidney failure, a condition known as nephrogenic systemic fibrosis. More recently, researchers in Belgium and Japan expressed concern that gadolinium-based contrast agents showed preliminary evidence of depositing in the part of the brain called the cerebellum.

Here is a list of eight (8) of the most widely used gadolinium contrast agents and their brand and generic names and levels of concern. The following three have lower levels of retention and are of less concern; a) Dotarem (Gadoterate Meglumine); b) Gadavist (Gadobutrol); and, Prohance (Gadotridol). The following five have high levels of retention; a) Eovist (Gadoxetate Disodium); b) Magnevist (Gadobenate Dimeglumine); c) Multihance (Gadobenate Dimeglumine); d) Omniscan (Gadodiamide); and e) Optimark (Gadoversetamide).

The body retains less gadolinium when using agents that have what is known as a macrocyclic (large rings) chemical structure, as in Dotarem, Gadavist and Prohance. Gadolinium agents that have a linear chemical structure have higher levels in the body after using them.

So the next time you have an MRI with contrast, inquire which of the gadolinium agents are being used. If it is one with linear structure or higher retention, one should ask for alternatives or seek out another imaging facility.

This post is an excerpt from an article written by Mark Moyad, MD, MPH, Jenkins / Pokempner Director of Alternative Medicine, University of Michigan Medical Center. It was published in the summer 2018 issue of the Prostate Digest, Volume 21, Issue 2, published by the Prostate Cancer Research Institute.

P.S. So now you know how to respond when you see one of those notorious lawyer ads on TV asking if you “have ever taken an MRI with contrast and developed _______. You may be entitled to substantial compensation.”

One of the Most Admirable Young Men I’ve Ever Met

I know this website is focused on providing information to men whose prostate cancers are at any stage. Hopefully most of us may not die of prostate cancer although in my own case, that is definitely a possibility. For myself and I know for many of you as well, our Christian faith and our personal relationship with God plays a most significant role. Some years ago, I came to know an extraordinary young man who was stricken with Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy and has been in a wheelchair since the age of 12. He is now 26 and his disease is now seriously threatening his earthly life. Through the years, he has received a college degree, has penned at least two books and is an active blogger on sports especially football as well as spiritual issues. In short, Jonathan is one of the bravest, most honest and admirable men I have ever met. As an inspiration to all of us, I have provided this link to his most recent blog.    http://jonathansperspectiveongod.blogspot.com/2018/08/jonathans-perspective-on-heaven.html?m=1

If any of you wish to know more about entering into a personal, life-changing relationship with God and receive the promise of eternal life in a new heaven and a new earth with a new perfect body and experience the peace and strength that Jonathan possesses in this life, see the following link from this website.

 

Some Advanced Prostate Cancer Patients May Respond Well to Keytruda Immunotherapy.

Immunotherapy with Keytruda (pembrolizumab) may be an effective way to treat some cases of advanced prostate cancer according to a preliminary study conducted at Oregon Health and Science University – Knight Cancer Institute. Findings were published in the journal Oncotarget in a paper entitled “Early evidence of anti-PD-1 activity in enzalutamide-resistant prostate cancer.” Keytruda is a monoclonal antibody that blocks the PD-1 receptor on the surface of immune T-cells, allowing them to recognize and destroy tumor cells. The FDA-approved drug has been shown to work well in melanoma and lung cancer but has so far not demonstrated much anti-tumor activity in prostate cancer.

Researchers administered Keytruda in ten (10) men with metastatic prostate cancer who had received androgen deprivation therapy or the androgen receptor antagonist Xtandi (enzalutamide) but failed to respond to it. Three of the 10 men who participated on the trial responded remarkably well to Keytruda treatment. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels in their blood, an early measure of treatment response, dropped rapidly and dramatically from 46, 71, and 2,503 ng/ml respectively to less than 0.1 ng/ml. In addition, two of the three men saw their tumors shrink and reported a reduction in cancer-related pain to the point of not needing their opiate pain medication. Finally, the three patients who responded to Keytruda remained free of cancer progression at 30, 55 and 16 weeks of follow up, respectively.

It is still unclear why only three of the ten men who participated in the clinical trial responded to Keytruda while others showed no signs of clinical benefit. It is not yet possible to conclude that blocking PD-1 signaling can improve survival in men with metastatic prostate cancer, or to predict which patients will respond to treatment. More research is needed to better understand the mechanisms by which Keytruda reduces prostate cancer and which factors may influence the therapeutic effect of the drug. Additional patients have been enrolled in this clinical trial.

For a review of immunotherapy in prostate cancer, see the following link.