
"Health wise I am feeling great. I am a big supporter of trials - it allows new treatments and drugs to be brought in.”
This trial was looking at celecoxib for newly diagnosed prostate cancer that had not spread.
Celecoxib (Celebrex) is one of a group of drugs called COX-2 inhibitors. It stops an called COX-2 working. COX-2 inhibitors are already used for other medical conditions such as arthritis, and for the prevention of bowel cancer for certain people at high risk of developing it. Researchers think celecoxib may be useful in the future for treating, or possibly preventing prostate cancer.
Treatment: The enzyme COX-2 stimulates the production of a growth factor called vascular endothelial growth factor - VEGF. VEGF helps cancers make their own blood vessels so they can keep growing. This is called angiogenesis. Doctors thought that if celecoxib could reduce the amount of VEGF in prostate cancer cells, it would mean that the cancer would not be able to grow. But they were not sure.
The aim of this trial was to find out how good celecoxib was to treat prostate cancer.
The trial team found that celecoxib could be useful to treat prostate cancer.
This trial recruited 62 men. They were put into 1 of 2 groups
The researchers compared samples of cancer tissue from the prostate before and after surgery. They were able to look at the tissue samples of 45 men.
In those who had celecoxib, the tissue samples after surgery showed the amount of VEGF had reduced. And the number of cancer cells that died () had increased.
The researchers concluded that celecoxib could be useful to treat prostate cancer. And this should be looked at further in larger trials with bigger numbers.
We have based this summary on information from the team who ran the trial. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists () and published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team. We have not analysed the data ourselves.
Please note: In order to join a trial you will need to discuss it with your doctor, unless otherwise specified.
Dr Presanna Sooriakumaran
Prostate Project
Freephone 0808 800 4040
"Health wise I am feeling great. I am a big supporter of trials - it allows new treatments and drugs to be brought in.”