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Prostate Cancer - Hormone-Refractory Patients Still Waiting for Treatment Breakthroughs

Wed Jan 9, 2008 3:53am EST
NEW YORK--(Business Wire)--Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report
related to the Pharmaceutical industry industry is available in its
catalogue.

   Stakeholder Insight: Prostate Cancer - Hormone-refractory patients
still waiting for treatment breakthroughs

   To order that report:

   www.reportlinker.com/p073694/Stakeholder-Insight-Prostate
-Cancer---Hormone-refractory-patients
-still-waiting-for-treatment-breakthroughs.html

   For more information, contact Nicolas by email
nbo@reportlinker.com , by phone +33 4 37 65 17 03.

   As a result of market dominance by agents such as leuprolide, and
AstraZeneca's Zoladex (goserelin) and Casodex (bicalutamide), there is
little space in the antihormonal therapies market for new competition
unless significant clinical superiority or a unique selling point is
demonstrated.

   While Taxotere-based chemotherapy is the established first-line
standard for hormone-refractory prostate cancer, many patients are
still precluded from treatment due to toxicity concerns. This, coupled
with a lack of second-line standard therapy, indicates a major gap in
the market that could be potentially lucrative for drug developers.

   Enthusiasm has been shown by key opinion leaders regarding certain
late-phase pipeline products, however, during the time of writing,
publication of negative clinical trial data has meant a dampening of
this optimism. It will therefore be some time before the high unmet
needs in the hormone-refractory prostate cancer market are satisfied.

   Identify key factors that influence prescribing patterns for
systemic therapy of prostate cancerExamine the significant unmet needs
in the prostate cancer market and identify opportunities for new
product developmentEnhance commercial positioning by increasing
understanding of current dynamics within the prostate cancer market

   CHAPTER 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3

   Scope of the analysis 3

   Datamonitor insight into the prostate cancer market 3

   Contributing experts 5

   Related reports 5

   Upcoming reports 5

   CHAPTER 2 INTRODUCTION AND SCOPE 8

   Introduction 8

   Coverage of the Stakeholder Insight Survey 8

   Disease definition and epidemiology 8

   Patient segmentation 8

   Drug therapy for prostate cancer 8

   Recurrent prostate cancer 9

   Hormone-refractory prostate cancer 9

   Pipeline products for hormone-refractory prostate cancer 9

   CHAPTER 3 COUNTRY TREATMENT TREES 11

   Introduction 11

   Country treatment trees 12

   US 12

   Japan 16

   France 20

   Germany 24

   Italy 28

   Spain 32

   UK 36

   CHAPTER 4 DISEASE DEFINITION AND EPIDEMIOLOGY 40

   Definition of prostate cancer 40

   Prostate cancer 40

   The most common cancer type and second leading cause of
cancer-related death in males 40

   Histology 40

   The majority of prostate tumors are adenocarcinomas 40

   Risk factors 41

   Older age 41

   Race 41

   Family history 42

   Hormones 42

   Dietary factors 42

   Symptoms 43

   Symptoms frequently occur only at an advanced stage of prostate
cancer 43

   Screening and diagnosis 43

   Measurement of PSA has proved fairly useful in the detection of
prostate cancer, however, several issues need to be resolved 43

   A widespread screening program exists in the US... 44

   ...however, in Europe, results from the ERSPC trial are necessary
before screening programs can be considered 44

   Though PSA screening has been shown useful in Japan, the practice
is not widespread 44

   Staging 45

   Prostate cancer is staged using the TNM system and a
histologically-based Gleason score 45

   Epidemiology of prostate cancer 46

   Incidence of prostate cancer 46

   Prostate cancer is a tumor associated with older men, therefore
incidence is rising in line with the ageing population 46

   Mortality from prostate cancer 47

   Potentially asymptomatic disease and a high rate of fatality from
co-morbidities mean mortality from prostate cancer is not especially
high 47

   Prevalence of prostate cancer 49

   Prevalence is high given the tendency for early diagnosis and low
mortality 49

   CHAPTER 5 PATIENT SEGMENTATION 51

   Introduction 51

   Staging of prostate cancer 51

   Staging at diagnosis 51

   Around half of all prostate cancer cases are diagnosed at a
localized stage 51

   Staging at the time of survey 53

   A greater proportion have advanced-stage prostate cancer if
patients at the time of survey are examined 53

   One-quarter of all prostate cancer patients have
hormone-refractory disease 55

   Differences in staging 55

   Urologists encounter more early-stage patients, while medical
oncologists typically treat advanced disease... 55

   ...however, the difference is minimal in Japan due to its
structure of medical practice 59

   CHAPTER 6 INITIAL DRUG THERAPY FOR PROSTATE CANCER 60

   Introduction 60

   Overview of initial therapy for prostate cancer 60

   Localized prostate cancer patients can undergo watchful waiting or
radical prostatectomy 60

   Initial treatment of locally advanced and metastatic prostate
cancer constitutes androgen deprivation therapy 61

   Initial treatment of prostate cancer 62

   Initial use of drug therapy 62

   As expected, use of initial drug therapy increases with an
advancing stage of prostate cancer 64

   However, a higher than expected proportion of localized stage
patients appear to receive drug therapy 64

   A lower proportion than average of locally advanced and metastatic
prostate cancer patients receive initial drug therapy in the US 65

   Specific initial drug therapy of prostate cancer 66

   Across all stages of prostate cancer 66

   LHRH agonist monotherapy and total androgen blockade are the
favored drug regimens used in the initial treatment of prostate cancer
66

   Localized prostate cancer 68

   LHRH agonist monotherapy is generally sufficient given that an
aggressive approach is not needed while the tumor is localized... 69

   ...however, in Spain and Japan, total androgen blockade is the
favored initial treatment approach for localized prostate cancer 69

   Anti-androgen monotherapy is the third most frequently used drug
regimen for localized tumors due to its lower efficacy than medical
castration 70

   Use of cytotoxics with or without antihormonal therapy is very low
in the initial treatment of localized prostate cancer 70

   Locally advanced prostate cancer 72

   On average, similar trends are seen in the initial treatment of
locally advanced prostate cancer as for localized 73

   More locally advanced patients receive TAB than localized
patients, at the expense of use of anti-androgen monotherapy 74

   Use of cytotoxics with or without antihormonal therapy is still
low 74

   Advanced prostate cancer 74

   On average, the majority of advanced prostate cancer patients
appear to receive the more aggressive total androgen blockade regimen
as initial treatment, although this observation is deceptive 75

   More advanced disease which may require more aggressive treatment
means the combination of cytotoxics and antihormonal therapy is the
third preferred initial regimen 76

   Use of cytotoxics in the initial treatment of prostate cancer is
relatively high across all stages in Germany 78

   LHRH agonist monotherapy 78

   Use of anti-androgens to counter testosterone flare 78

   Use of anti-androgens to prevent testosterone flare from LHRH
agonists increases with a more advanced stage of prostate cancer 78

   Use of temporary anti-androgen therapy is, surprisingly, lowest in
the US and Germany, and highest in the UK 80

   Use of specific LHRH agonists as monotherapy 83

   Leuprolide is the favored LHRH agonist for use as monotherapy
across all stages of prostate cancer due to its availability in a
variety of depot formulations 83

   Goserelin is the second preferred LHRH agonist monotherapy across
all stages of prostate cancer 85

   Use of the various LHRH agonists varies greatly between countries,
with use of leuprolide highest in the US and use of goserelin highest
in the UK 85

   Anti-androgen monotherapy 89

   Use of specific anti-androgens as monotherapy 89

   Bicalutamide, in varying dosing formulations, is the leading
anti-androgen for use as monotherapy across all stage of prostate
cancer 89

   Despite being the only branded product in a heavily genericized
market, Casodex (bicalutamide) remains the leader due to a number of
advantages over its competition 91

   Casodex is by far the preferred anti-androgen for use as
monotherapy in each of the seven major pharmaceutical markets 91

   Casodex 150mg has had a tumultuous regulatory pathway to date 94

   The EPC trial showed that 150mg Casodex daily is suitable for
treatment of locally advanced prostate cancer, but not localized
disease 94

   Casodex 150mg is still used in localized prostate cancer,
according to surveyed physicians 95

   In Japan, only 80mg Casodex is available, while in the US, only
50mg Casodex is available 95

   In the EU, use of Casodex is more fragmented between the 50mg and
150mg formulations 95

   Use of flutamide is highest in the US 96

   Use of cyproterone and nilutamide are highest in the EU 96

   Total androgen blockade 97

   Use of specific total androgen blockade regimens 97

   A combination of leuprolide and bicalutamide is the top TAB
regimen across all stages of prostate cancer 97

   No specific recommendations for TAB regimen are made, therefore
the choice of agents is most likely due to physician preference or
cost 98

   In the US and Japan, the top three TAB regimens do not vary by
stage, with the leading combination constituting leuprolide and
bicalutamide 99

   More variation is seen in the top three TAB regimens used in each
of the five European countries, although leuprolide or goserelin with
bicalutamide still emerge as the first or second preferred regimen in
all markets 101

   Use of specific formulations of LHRH agonists 107

   Use of specific formulations as monotherapy or as part of
combination regimens 107

   On average across the seven major markets, the three-month depot
version of leuprolide is the leading formulation of LHRH agonist 107

   Three-month goserelin emerges as the second preferred formulation
of LHRH agonist 108

   Three-month formulations of LHRH agonist are deemed to offer the
most convenience and flexibility to patients 109

   In the US, use of alternative leuprolide formulations is favored
110

   Triptorelin and buserelin formulations appear in the top three
preferred LHRH agonist formulations only in four of the EU countries
110

   CHAPTER 7 RECURRENT PROSTATE CANCER 111

   Introduction 111

   Overview of therapy for recurrent prostate cancer 111

   Treatment of recurrent prostate cancer typically involves further
lines of antihormonal therapy 111

   Remission rates 112

   Remission rates by stage of disease 112

   Remission rates are surprisingly high in the more advanced stages
of prostate cancer, indicating that systemic therapy may offer
sufficient disease control 112

   High use of TAB to treat localized disease in Japan may result in
a significantly higher remission rate in these patients 114

   Duration of remission 114

   Duration of remission is longest in localized prostate cancer
patients and shortest in advanced patients 114

   A high proportion of localized patients are initially treated with
drug therapy in Spain, thereby resulting in a higher duration of
remission 116

   Relapse rates 116

   Patients who relapse following remission 116

   As expected, relapse rates are highest among advanced prostate
cancer patients and lowest in localized disease 116

   Highest relapse rates in Spain, albeit for no apparent reason 117

   Stage of disease present at relapse 118

   Due to enhanced detection of rising PSA levels, relapsed disease
can be identified while still at a localized stage 118

   Hormone-refractory disease at relapse 120

   Patients with more advanced disease may have more aggressive
tumors, potentially placing them at a higher risk of developing
hormone-refractory disease more quickly at relapse 120

   Drug therapy for recurrent prostate cancer 122

   Use of drug therapy for relapse 122

   The majority of prostate cancer patients who relapse go on to
receive further antihormonal and/or cytotoxic therapy 122

   Surprisingly, drug therapy for relapsed disease is highest in the
Japan and lowest in the US 123

   Specific drug regimens used to treat recurrent prostate cancer 124

   Drug therapy following LHRH agonist monotherapy 124

   In accordance with treatment guidelines, the majority of patients
receive TAB for relapsed disease after undergoing LHRH agonist
monotherapy as initial therapy 124

   Cytotoxic-based regimens are the second preference after LHRH
agonist monotherapy, most likely for those patients with HRPC at
relapse 125

   Third choice varies between anti-androgen monotherapy or LHRH
agonist monotherapy depending on the country 126

   Drug therapy following anti-androgen monotherapy 126

   TAB appears the favored regimen to follow initial anti-androgen
monotherapy 126

   On average, LHRH agonist monotherapy appears the second preferred
treatment approach following initial anti-androgen monotherapy,
although in some countries use is equivalent to that of
cytotoxic-based regimens 128

   The seven-market average dictates that cytotoxic-based regimens
are the third preferred treatment option following initial
anti-androgen monotherapy 129

   Anti-androgen monotherapy in both the initial and second-line
treatment settings has been clinically proven to offer few benefits
129

   Drug therapy following total androgen blockade 130

   Cytotoxic-based regimens are administered to the majority of
patients who receive initial therapy with TAB 130

   Continued TAB appears to be the second most popular approach
following initial TAB therapy, possibly as part of an intermittent
dosing regimen 131

   On average, the third favored approach following initial TAB is
LHRH agonist monotherapy, although significant differences occur
between individual countries 132

   Drug therapy following cytotoxic-based regimens with or without
antihormonal therapy 133

   Cytotoxic-based regimens are not typically used as initial
therapy, therefore second-line treatment is highly fragmented between
countries 133

   CHAPTER 8 HORMONE-REFRACTORY PROSTATE CANCER 135

   Introduction 135

   Overview of therapy for hormone-refractory prostate cancer 135

   Taxotere-based chemotherapy forms the first-line standard of care
for HRPC patients 135

   Bisphosphonates can be used to prevent the formation of bone
metastases and to alleviate bone pain 136

   Optimal second-line therapy for HRPC is yet to be defined 136

   Progression to hormone-refractory prostate cancer 137

   Patients who progress to hormone-refractory prostate cancer 137

   Patients diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer are more likely
to progress to HRPC than earlier-stage patients 137

   Duration of antihormonal therapy prior to progression to HRPC 138

   Localized patients undergo a longer duration of hormonal therapy
prior to development of HRPC, while advanced patients progress more
quickly 138

   Drug therapy for hormone-refractory prostate cancer 140

   Use of drug therapy for HRPC 140

   Given the aggressive nature of HRPC, approximately three-quarters
of patients receive drug therapy as treatment 140

   Highest use of initial drug therapy for HRPC seen in Japan, lowest
use seen in the US 142

   First-line drug therapy 142

   First-line drug regimens used to treat HRPC 142

   Taxotere-based chemotherapy regimens are used heavily across all
seven major pharmaceutical markets in the first-line treatment of HRPC
142

   The leading seven-market first-line regimen is Taxotere and
prednisone, which is expected given that this combination has
regulatory approval for treatment of HRPC in the US and EU 144

   Single-agent estramustine and single-agent Taxotere see equal use
in the first-line treatment of HRPC when the seven-market average is
examined despite a lack of robust supporting clinical data 145

   Greater evidence exists supporting the first-line use of a
Taxotere and estramustine combination in comparison to either agent as
monotherapy 146

   Use of secondary hormonal therapy as first-line treatment for HRPC
may still be appropriate in those cases where androgen receptors are
still active 147

   Second-line drug therapy 147

   Progression from first-line to second-line therapy 147

   The majority of HRPC patients progress to second-line therapy,
although variation is shown across the seven major markets 147

   Second-line drug regimens used to treat HRPC 149

   Use of Taxotere-based regimens is still high in the second-line
treatment of HRPC, although mitoxantrone is also used frequently at
this stage 149

   The leading seven-market second-line regimens are single-agent
mitoxantrone and a combination of Taxotere and prednisone, both
administered to equal proportions of HRPC patients 151

   Single-agent Taxotere is the third leading second-line regimen for
the treatment of HRPC, most likely due to a lack of other approved
agents 152

   Use of single-agent estramustine is still high in the second-line
treatment of HRPC in Japan, as well as in France, Italy and Spain 152

   Continued use of a combination of Taxotere and estramustine is
seen in the second-line treatment of HRPC in Japan 152

   In Germany, a combination of vinorelbine and estramustine appears
in the top three second-line regimens, most likely due to
vinorelbine's milder toxicities 153

   Secondary hormonal therapy is used in the second-line treatment of
HRPC in Italy and the UK, which is somewhat surprising at this late
stage 153

   Key prescribing influences 153

   Key prescribing influences for drug therapy of HRPC 153

   The ability to improve overall survival, symptoms and quality of
life are the leading two influences on prescribing for treatment of
HRPC 153

   The third leading prescribing influence concerns side-effect
profiles, which is obviously of significance following improvements to
survival and quality of life 156

   The importance of remaining key prescribing influences vary
depending on country-specific issues, with cost issues, method and
frequency of administration and physician product familiarity more or
less of similar weight 156

   Relatively high importance of cost issues is expected in the more
cost-conservative UK, but not in the US 156

   Method of administration, frequency of dosing and physician
product familiarity are all of similar relevance in each of the seven
markets 156

   Pharmaceutical company marketing and services appears to be the
least important key prescribing influence across the seven major
markets 157

   CHAPTER 9 PIPELINE PRODUCTS FOR HORMONE-REFRACTORY PROSTATE CANCER
158

   Introduction 158

   Prostate cancer pipeline overview 158

   Key pipeline product profiles 164

   Abbott's Xinlay (atrasentan) 165

   Spectrum Pharmaceuticals/GPC Biotech's Orplatna (satraplatin) 166

   Dendreon's Provenge (sipuleucel-T) 167

   Cell Genesys's GVAX 169

   Novacea/Schering-Plough's Asentar (calcitriol, DN-101) 170

   Northwest Biotherapeutics' DCVax-Prostate 172

   Genentech/Roche's Avastin (bevacizumab) 172

   Key attributes 174

   Key attributes for HRPC pipeline products 174

   As expected, the top desired attributes in a pipeline drug for
HRPC is to prolong overall survival duration and improve quality of
life 174

   Superiority over the current first-line standard 176

   Clinical improvements required for a pipeline drug to be used
ahead of the current first-line standard, Taxotere plus prednisone 176

   In order for a pipeline drug to be used in combination with
Taxotere over the current first-line standard, relatively large
improvements in clinical benefits would need to be shown 176

   Acceptable price increase for a pipeline drug to be used in
advance of the current first-line standard, Taxotere plus prednisone
177

   Physicians speculate that payers are prepared to pay nearly 20%
more for a pipeline drug if survival is increased, even at the expense
of increased toxicity 177

   Predicted performance of late-phase pipeline products 178

   Pipeline drugs are predicted to have some advantages over the
current standard 178

   Taxotere-based regimens are ranked highest in terms of overall
survival and symptom/quality of life improvements, which is expected
given the solid clinical evidence available 180

   In terms of side-effect profile, method of administration and
frequency of dosing, pipeline products are all ranked ahead of the
standard Taxotere-based regimen, which is ranked the lowest for each
181

   Provenge is ranked highest in terms of side-effect profile 181

   Xinlay is ranked highest in terms of method of administration and
frequency of dosing 181

   No difference is shown between pipeline products in terms of cost
issues 182

   Taxotere and Avastin are ranked higher in terms of pharmaceutical
company services, most likely owing to the large and well-established
nature of their manufacturers 182

   Taxotere-based regimens and Avastin were ranked highest in terms
of physician product/class familiarity, which is not surprising, given
these two agents are formally approved for treatment of cancer 183

   Brand mapping 183

   Interpreting a brand map 183

   The brand map confirms the observations made with respect to
predicted performance of pipeline products for HRPC 185

   APPENDIX A 186

   Physician research methodology 186

   Physician sample breakdown 186

   US 186

   Japan 187

   France 187

   Germany 188

   Italy 188

   Spain 189

   UK 189

   Supplementary data 190

   Brand map interpretation 195

   Key opinion leader interview transcripts 197

   APPENDIX B 198

   The survey questionnaire 198

   1. Patient segmentation 198

   2. Drug therapy for prostate cancer 199

   3. Recurrent prostate cancer 209

   4. Hormone-refractory prostate cancer 214

   5. Pipeline drugs 218

   APPENDIX C 221

   Bibliography 221

   List of tables 230

   List of figures 231

   List of abbreviations 231

   About Datamonitor 233

   About Datamonitor Healthcare 233

   About the Oncology analysis team 234

   Disclaimer 235

   To order that report:

   www.reportlinker.com/p073694/Stakeholder-Insight-Prostate
-Cancer---Hormone-refractory-patients-
still-waiting-for-treatment-breakthroughs.html

   For more information, contact Nicolas by email
nbo@reportlinker.com , or by phone +33 4 37 65 17 03.

   More market research reports?

   Go to http://www.reportlinker.com

   (Long URLs in this release may need to be copied/pasted into your
Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one
exists.)

Nicolas
nbo@reportlinker.com
+33 4 37 65 17 03

Copyright Business Wire 2008



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