Are there new drugs in development for management of prostate cancer?
An increasingly large number of new drugs are currently under investigation for the treatment of prostate cancer on their own or in combination with other drugs or as additions to other forms of standard therapy such as radical surgery or radiation therapy for patients with selected stages of disease. The new drugs on which the most information is currently available include Suramin, bicalutamide (Casodex/Zeneca Pharmaceuticals), and nilutamide (Anandron/Hoechst-Roussel). Suramin is in clinical trials for the management of patients with advanced prostate cancer who have failed standard hormonal therapies. Bicalutamide and nilutamide are new antiandrogens which are believed to have similar clinical effects to flutamide (Eulexin/Schering). Applications to market these two agents have been submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US. Bicalutamide and nilutamide are already available in some other countries. It should also be observed that some other older pharmaceuticals
