Kitano Medical Research Institute, Public Interest Incorporated Foundation, Tatsunokofukai
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We have begun treatment with Xofigo® Intravenous Injection (generic name: radium-223 chloride) for castration-resistant prostate cancer with bone metastasis.
Xofigo is a new type of radiopharmaceutical that is the first in the world to use radiation called alpha particles (α-particles) to have a therapeutic effect on cancer cells that have metastasized to the bones.
Our hospital began treatment with Xofigo in September 2016, and we expect this to extend survival times and the time until symptoms such as pain and fractures due to bone metastasis appear.
In most cases, early-stage prostate cancer is treated with surgery or radiation therapy. Advanced prostate cancer is treated with endocrine therapy, which involves testicular removal or a combination of injectable and oral medications with similar effects. The effectiveness of endocrine therapy often weakens after several years, and the disease often worsens. This condition is called castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC).
Traditionally, CRPC has been treated with intravenous or oral anticancer drugs, but a new treatment has been added: an injectable radioisotope called Xofigo.
Radium-223, a component of Xofigo, has properties similar to calcium and is absorbed into the bones when injected. Taking advantage of this property, it has come to be used as a treatment for bone metastasis. The radiation emitted by Xofigo is called alpha rays, which are high in energy and have the power to destroy cancer cells. However, the range of alpha rays within the body is short, less than 0.1 mm, so they have the advantage of having relatively little effect on normal cells.
Xofigo is administered six times, four weeks apart. It is ordered according to each patient's treatment schedule. As the drug has a very short shelf life, the injection date cannot be changed as a general rule.
Xofigo is a treatment that can be expected to extend survival time. It is also expected to improve quality of life, and is used as the first-line drug for CRPC with bone metastasis in Europe. We started treatment with Xofigo at our hospital in September 2016.
*In addition to the self-pay portion of insurance-covered medical treatment, you will also be required to pay a selected medical treatment fee of 8,640 yen.
