Researchers have found that giving certain prostate cancer patients the drug abiraterone sooner could double their chance of surviving the disease. Abiraterone, which has the brand name Zytiga, is a daily tablet that stops the body producing testosterone – in most men, prostate cancer cells cannot grow without this hormone.

Previous studies have found the drug cannot cure cancer but can keep it under control and help men live longer. As a result, the treatment has mostly been reserved for patients with advanced prostate cancer that has already migrated to other parts of the body.

But the latest study, by a team of scientists at the world-renowned Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in London, suggests there may be major benefits in also giving the drug to many thousands more men who have only locally-advanced prostate cancer.

This is where malignant cells have broken out of the prostate gland and spread to the surrounding tissue or nearby organs but have not progressed to other major organs, such as the spine, lungs or liver. The latest research, published in The Lancet in December 2021, suggests earlier use could mean many cancer deaths are avoided and that thousands more men could have a better prognosis.

ICR researchers teamed up with experts from University College London for the six-year investigation, during which they tracked the progress of 1,974 patients with locally-advanced prostate cancer. Half were given standard therapy, including treatments such as radiotherapy, other types of hormone-suppressing drugs or even surgery to remove the prostate.

The rest got this standard care but in addition took a daily dose of abiraterone, alongside a steroid drug called prednisolone (which helps limit some of the side-effects from hormone suppression such as fluid retention and raised blood pressure). Half of this group was also given an additional hormone therapy – called enzalutamide – to see if there was an even greater benefit.

The results showed that, whereas 15 per cent of men having standard care died from their cancers during the six-year period, far fewer – seven per cent – died among the abiraterone group.  What’s more, adding enzalutamide to the mix not only failed to improve outcomes but also caused an increase in side-effects.

The findings were clear – early use of abiraterone had a major impact on mortality rates.

Professor Gert Attard, from the University College London Cancer Institute, who was part of the research team said:

‘This is the first time we’ve seen a treatment for this kind of prostate cancer that can do more than extend life. We are now seeing clear and convincing evidence that some people who would have died of prostate cancer will no longer die from it.’

The findings will come as welcome news for prostate cancer patients worldwide.

In the US, almost 250,000 men a year are diagnosed with the condition, according to the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO), and more than 34,000 a year lose their lives to it.

The key to survival is early diagnosis and treatment. ASCO data shows the five-year survival rate for men with locally-advanced tumours is almost 100 per cent. But if it has already spread beyond the prostate at the time of diagnosis the five-year survival rate drops to 30 per cent.

In the UK, roughly 52,000 men a year are diagnosed with the disease and almost 12,000 a year die from it.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the body which polices drug spending in England and Wales, is now expected to review the latest findings to see if abiraterone use should be extended more widely.