Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer in men in Germany. The pharmaceutical company Novartis is now allowed to market a drug against already metastasizing prostate cancer in Europe. It should also be investigated whether it can be used in earlier stages.
The European Union has approved a new drug to treat advanced prostate cancer. The drug Pluvicto received approval for adult patients with metastatic prostate cancer that cannot be cured by surgery, as the Swiss manufacturer Novartis announced. The cancer drug was approved in the USA in March, and it is already on the market in Great Britain and Canada.
Novartis highlighted in its statement that prostate cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in men in 112 countries. In 2020, more than 1.4 million new cases and 375,000 deaths were registered worldwide. Pluvicto is approved for patients who have already been treated with androgen receptor inhibitors or who have had chemotherapy with taxanes.
According to Novartis, the approval is based on a phase III clinical study with 831 patients. It has shown that the risk of death for those treated is 38 percent lower than that of other therapies that have already been approved. According to the Swiss pharmaceutical giant, it is also investigating whether Pluvicto can be used at an earlier stage of prostate cancer.
