Quality of life improvement for patients treated with degarelix versus leuprorelin in advanced prostate cancer. By Lee et al. 2014
Key sentence from the paper: “Although there was a general trend towards better HRQL for patients treated with degarelix [Firmagon], the difference was not significant…”
For the full abstract, see: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25264336
Commentary: In the last year or so, there have been a couple papers published suggesting that the cardiovascular risks associated with Firmagon may be less than those seen in drugs like Lupron or Zoladex. This paper uses a variety of health related quality of life (HRQL) scales to assess the patients’ responses to Firmagon versus Lupron. The brief quote tells the story as it currently stands for the side effects examined. Firmagon was not seen as better or worse than the older more established drugs. What this paper shows is that bone fractures are among the more serious side effects of ADT, however it’s achieved, for reducing patient’s quality of life.
One notes that this study was funded by Ferring that manufactures Firmagon. One suspects that Ferring will continue to explore the risks and benefits of their drugs compared to the more traditional LHRH agonists.
Lee D, Nielsen SK, van Keep M, Andersson F, Greene D. 2014. Quality of life improvement for patients treated with degarelix versus leuprorelin in advanced prostate cancer. Journal of Urology. 15 September 2014 [Epub ahead of print]