Janssen has launched a new treatment method which has shown to extend life for some men suffering from advanced prostate cancer. The treatment option was discovered in the UK at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in what is now Cancer Research UK Cancer Therapeutics Unit. Zytiga® (abiraterone acetate), a once-daily oral drug, is now licensed for use in conjunction with a steroid (prednisolone). The medication is designed for the post-chemotherapy treatment of prostate cancer that has spread to other organs within the body and has then afterwards progressed due to the body developing resistance to standard hormonal therapies.

Dr Heather Payne, Consultant Clinical Oncologist, University College London Hospitals, comments on the launch and explains:

"The launch of abiraterone acetate in the UK is encouraging news for patients with metastatic advanced prostate cancer and their families. Historically there have been few treatment options for advanced prostate cancer when it relapses after hormonal therapy and chemotherapy and so this new treatment has the potential to meet a significant unmet need."

Every year in the UK, approximately 37,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer, and almost one fourth are aged between 40 and 65 years. Prostate cancer is the second most common cause of cancer deaths in UK men, with over 10,000 men dying from the disease each year. Nearly 20-30% of men diagnosed with primary prostate cancer will encounter incurable metastatic disease (cancer that has spread beyond the prostate to other areas of the body).

In May 2011, the New England Journal of Medicine published results from a randomized, placebo-controlled phase 3 investigation that consisted of 1,195 men who had previously received treatment with standard chemotherapy. The results demonstrated that individuals treated with abiraterone acetate together with a low dose of prednisone revealed a 36% increase in the median survival (14.8 months vs. 10.9 months [HR = 0.66; P