Research Reveals Discovery That Can Transform Treatment Procedures for Prostate Cancer
In a revolutionary study, researchers found that an innovative formulation of prostate cancer medicine, "abiraterone acetate-presently labeled as Zytiga, can radically enhance the quality of life for individuals suffering from prostate cancer.
The University of Australia's preclinical tests showed that this new formulation enhances the medicine's efficacy by roughly 40 percent.
Developed by the nanostructure and drug delivery research led by Professor Clive Prestidge at UniSA's Cancer Research Institute, this breakthrough finding makes use of an oral formulation that's oil-based. The formulation does not only enable a lower dosage of the drug to be effective but has the potential as well, of drastically reducing probable side effects like diarrhea and joint swelling.
Despite Zytiga being the primary formulation for prostate cancer treatment, Dr. Hayley Schultz, the head researcher says, this newly developed formula will eventually offer a better cure for prostate cancer patients.
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The Cancer Commonly Diagnosed in Men
Prostate cancer is the most typically diagnosed cancer among man with one in every six, at danger of diagnosis before reaching the 85 years of age.
Last year, over 19,000 prostate cancer cases were diagnosed in Australia alone. Worldwide, the said cancer reached over 1.2 million in 2018.
According to Dr. Schultz, a lot of medicines are "poorly water-soluble," and thus, when they are swallowed, they indeed, enter the gut but do not dissolve.
This means that their healing effect is restricted. This, the medical expert said, "Is the case for Zytiga." Here, the head researcher specified, there is only 10-percent absorption of the medicine while the remaining portion is 90-percent absorption, where it merely goes as waste through the body.
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No More 3-Hour Fasting Needed
Aside from the percentage presented, the study also indicated that patients who take Zytiga need to fast for two hours before and one more hour after taking the drug to experience the expected absorption.
Schultz also said, "As you can imagine," this can be meticulously inconvenient." Therefore, she added, their new formulation is changing this.
Through the use of oils to simulate therapeutic food impacts, Schultz explained that they were able to increase the solubilization and absorption of the drug, making it a more efficient and far less dangerous cure for patients.
The said research indicated that this breakthrough discovery employs an excessively high abiraterone acetate levels dissolved within a particular oil and encapsulated within absorbent silica microparticles to form a powder, which will either be filled into capsules or be developed into tablets.
Applicable for a human cure, this new formulation can reduce the dosage to 700mg from 1000mg each day, minus the need to fast.
According to Professor Prestidge, if the research team can secure financial backing, clinical tests in people "could be only two years away."
The professor also added that based on their knowledge of the drug's therapeutic food impact, they hypothesize that they theorize that its absorption in human beings is expected to be extensively enhanced through the use of this oil-based technology.
Furthermore, anything they can do to help in the development of commercializing medicines to enhance patients' lives, Prestidge said, "Is invaluable."
He explained that such a unique invention is flexible enough to be accepted by thousands of different drugs. More so, the professor emphasized that the potential of this new undertaking is exponential.
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