Avodart, a drug currently approved for the treatment of noncancerous enlarged prostate, also lowers the risk of prostate cancer by 23 percent in men with high risk of the disease, researchers say.
Avodard is made by GlaxoSmithKline PLC and had sales of $581 million last year. The current study could significantly boost the company’s income, analysts believe.
The study, called REDUCE, was led by Gerald L. Andriole, chief of urologic surgery at Washington University in St. Louis. He presented the data Monday at a meeting of the American Urological Association in Chicago.
The study involved 8,231 patients with increased risk of prostate cancer. The researchers found that 22.5 percent of men taking Avodart were diagnosed with prostate cancer after four years, compared with 29 percent who were taking a placebo.
“We think this is very good news.” In men at elevated risk based on a so-called PSA test, the drug “is a very plausible strategy to reduce their risk of prostate cancer,” said Dr. Andriole.
A previous large, seven-year study, Merck & Co. drug Proscar, also used for the treatment of benign prostate enlargement, showed a similar reduction in prostate-cancer risk, but there was an increase of aggressive cancers among men taking the drug.
The current study however, showed there wasn’t an increased risk of aggressive cancers among men taking Avodart after four years, which made Dr. Andriole call the finding “reassuring.”
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