NY Times Darolutamide Ad

[pca2004]

I wonder how much a two-page ad (pages 12-13) in the Sunday edition of the New York Times costs?

It begins with a story about Dr. Tom Green, urologist, who has had PCa for 19 years, however, it became metastatic only recently . He has opted for Darolutamide.

Segue to Dr. Matthew Smith, lead in the ARASENS trial (not mentioned by name), which lowered "the risk of death by 32 percent".

Smith is quoted: "Helping patients so they can have more time with the people they love ..."

Dr. Green: "I'm readjusting my life as to what I'm able to do, and refocusing my time to spend it doing things with the people I love and value".

Sounds dire. Overall, the ad is a downer imo - perhaps others have seen it & think differently?

Smith was author of a paper in the NEJM which had more info on survival:

"The overall survival at 4 years was 62.7% ... in the darolutamide group and 50.4% ... in the placebo group." [1]

-Patrick

[1] nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/N...

"Darolutamide and Survival in Metastatic, Hormone-Sensitive Prostate Cancer"

[Ramp7]

I didn't see the article but from your description, not exactly uplifting.

[CaptnMojoe]

Sir Patrick,

I see the same storyline in ads for Keytruda on the TeeVee. Smiling people enjoying more time with their loved ones. Obviously, the people in the ads are actors and not "real" cancer patients. The crudest forms of Capitalism have no moral foundations - just profit motives.

Regards, Mojoe

.* * *

PS My brother got "more time", first on Gencitabine and later on Avastin * (off-label & paid for @100% full-price out-of pocket) for his Stage 4 metastatic pancreatic cancer. I can't remember seeing him smile once during the time he was on either chemo drug. Did one or the other extend his life? Possibly by a week or two. But his all-important QOL (which was good at diagnosis) went straight downhill as soon as the chemo started, so any extension he got was one of extended misery and pain. I was an unfortunate regular witness to that downward QOL spiral.

* At the time Avastin (bevacizumab) had twice failed trials for use in Pancreatic Cancer. To my knowledge is it still not used for it. IMHO, his MO should have been sued - at least for the cost of prescribing a drug that had been shown to be ineffective, if not also for the additional pain & suffering it caused.

PSS It is common knowledge that US pharma now spends more money on advertising than it does on research. The only two developed nations that allows direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising are the US and New Zealand.

pharmacychecker.com/askpc/p...

[Maxone73]

maybe they should have added that ARASENS is based on a triplet and for castration sensitive adt naive mPCa?

[PCaWarrior]

It's a personal decision.

I'd take a 50% chance at 5 years knowing that I can enjoy a normal life vs. a 60% chance at 5 years knowing that I would lose libido and have fatigue and bone loss.

[Izzygirl1]

My husband was just told to stop taking is darolutimide. He started triple therapy last year and tomorrow we meet with oncologist to discuss plan b. Recently diagnosed with cancerous tumor in his head affecting his vision and causing him a lot of pain in his face and his ability to breathe thru his nose. He is miserable and tired of dealing with all of this.

[KocoPr in reply to Izzygirl1]

So sorry to hear that about your best friend.

Pain and misery wears on people. I haven’t experienced it yet but know of several that just want it to end. Im not looking forward to that.

[Graham49]

Thanks Patrick. NICE (uk) have recently (June 23) made Darolutamide available, see below.

1 Recommendations

1.1 Darolutamide with docetaxel is recommended, within its marketing authorisation, as an option for treating hormone-sensitive metastatic prostate cancer in adults. Darolutamide is only recommended if the company provides it according to the commercial arrangement.

Why the committee made these recommendations

Usual treatment for hormone-sensitive metastatic prostate cancer always includes androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), which may be given alone, or with docetaxel or enzalutamide. Darolutamide plus ADT and docetaxel would be another treatment option.

Clinical trial evidence shows that, compared with taking placebo plus ADT and docetaxel, people taking darolutamide plus ADT and docetaxel live longer, and have longer before their cancer gets worse or stops responding to ADT. There is also an indirect comparison comparing darolutamide plus ADT and docetaxel with usual treatment. The results suggest that darolutamide increases how long people live, and how long they have before their cancer gets worse or stops responding to ADT.

The cost-effectiveness estimates are within what NICE considers an acceptable use of NHS resources. So, darolutamide is recommended.