Advanced Prostate Cancer
- A Large Unmet Medical Need
Recent estimates show that prostate cancer has the highest
incidence rate of any cancer in the United States with
approximately 180,000 new cases diagnosed each year and more than
780,000 new cases are diagnosed each year worldwide. More than
250,000 men die from the condition each year, and it is the most
common cause of male cancer death after lung and colon cancer.
The age-adjusted death rates for prostate cancer have doubled
since 1930. Among other leading malignant diseases, only lung
cancer has shown a worse development in this century. These
tendencies have developed even though the five-year survival rates
for localized prostate cancer have been continuously improved.
While early detection and early stage treatment options have
improved considerably over the years, there is still a significant
need for treatment options in the advanced disease stage where the
only product approved in the metastatic setting with a survival
benefit is a chemotherapy with significant quality of life
issues.
