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 Results of a trial in 413 patients showed that the drug, which is
activated with a laser to destroy tumor tissue in the prostate, was
so effective that half the patients went into remission, compared
with 13.5 percent in a control group.
"These results are excellent news for men with early localized
prostate cancer, offering a treatment that can kill cancer without
removing or destroying the prostate," said Mark Emberton, a
University College London consultant urologist who led the trial.
"This is truly a huge leap forward."
The treatment, called vascular-targeted photodynamic therapy or VTP,
was developed by scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science in
Israel in collaboration with the privately-owned STEBA Biotech.
The light-sensitive drug used, called WST11, is derived from
bacteria found at the bottom of the ocean. To survive with very
little sunlight, they have evolved to convert light into energy with
incredible efficiency, Emberton's team said in a study published in
the journal Lancet Oncology.
The Weizmann scientists exploited this feature to develop WST11, a
compound that releases free radicals to kill surrounding cells when
activated by laser light.
Men with low-risk prostate cancer are currently put under active
surveillance, where the disease is monitored and only treated when
it becomes more severe. Radical therapy, which involves surgically
removing or irradiating the whole prostate, has significant
long-term side effects so is only used to treat high-risk cancers.
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While radical therapy causes lifelong erectile problems and
incontinence, VTP only caused short-term urinary and erectile
problems which resolved within three months, the researchers said.
No significant side-effects remained after two years.
In the trial, only 6 percent of patients treated with VTP needed
radical therapy compared with 30 percent of patients in the control
arm who were under active surveillance.
The trial involved 47 treatment sites in 10 European countries, most
of which were performing VTP for the first time.
"The fact that the treatment was performed so successfully by
non-specialist centers in various health systems is really
remarkable," Emberton said.
The VTP treatment is now being reviewed by the European Medicines
Agency (EMA) for possible license, but it likely to be several years
before it can be offered to patients more widely.
(Reporting by Kate Kelland, editing by John Stonestreet)
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