New therapy for advanced prostate cancer available in Trinidad and Tobago

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad -- The Chemistry, Food and Drugs Division of the Trinidad Tobago Ministry of Health approved the introduction of Abiraterone Acetate to the country, the first-orally administered androgen synthesis inhibitor (testosterone) medication for the treatment of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Clinical trials have demonstrated that this new therapeutic resource for the standard therapy of patients with hormone-resistant tumors reduces the risk of death by approximately 35%. Abiraterone Acetate is available in Trinidad and Tobago under the trademark Zytiga™.

According to the National Cancer Registry of Trinidad and Tobago, prostate cancer leads cancer statistics in the population with 22% of all cases. Amongst males, prostate cancer accounted for 42% of all new cases of cancer. Worldwide, prostate cancer is the second type of cancer most frequently diagnosed in men, and the fifth type overall. Near 1.1 million new cases of prostate cancer were diagnosed worldwide in 2012, and more than 300,000 men died because of the disease.