CYP17 inhibition helps in stopping cancers which are hormone-driven. Moreover, it can block hormone production from its source. This can inhibit the production of hormones like androgens and estrogens. Furthermore, it can aid in a decrease in cancer progression and load in the body. On the other hand, doctors advise attending regular check-ups to avoid side effects.
Understanding Hormone-Driven Prostate Cancer
These cancers depend on hormones like testosterone for their growth and division. Hormone therapy like abiraterone blocks hormone production which can fuel cancer. Moreover, these cancer cells starve without hormone production. Also, it can cause shrinkage to their size and lead cancer to cell death.
What Is Abiraterone?
Abiraterone is a hormone therapy which acts as an androgen biosynthesis inhibitor. Moreover, it can treat advanced or metastatic prostate cancer. The medicine works by blocking specific enzymes which promote cancer growth. On the other hand, it should be taken once daily and on an empty stomach.
How Does Abiraterone Work?
It works by blocking the CYP17 enzyme, which starves the tumor and might lead to cell death. In addition, the medicine can block production of male sex hormones. Also, it can include sources from the testes, the adrenal glands, and the cancer cells. Moreover, it can cause reduced disease progression and spread.
When Is Abiraterone Used?
There are multiple uses, like:
- Prostate cancer
- Advanced prostate cancer
- Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer
- Metastatic High-Risk Castration-Sensitive Prostate Cancer
Benefits of Abiraterone Therapy
The benefits are as follows:
- shrinks tumors
- extends overall survival
- Decrease cancer progression
- Reduce cancer load
- Lower tumor spread
Possible Side Effects
Patients can react differently to the medicine and also to the disease. Most of the side effects can leave the body as medicine starts working. However, if any side effects persist, inform your doctor rapidly. Therefore, the side effects are as follows:
Common side effects
- Hot flashes
- Fatigue
- High blood sugar
- Joint swelling
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- High blood pressure
- Fluid retention
Serious side effects
- Severe Liver Injury
- Cardiac problems
- Severe Allergic Reactions
What are the brands?
- ABIRACINE 250mg
- ABIRAPRO 250mg
- ZYTIGA 250mg
Monitoring During Treatment
Doctors advise monitoring liver function tests like AST, ALT, and bilirubin. Moreover, they track blood pressure, potassium levels, and fluid retention. Thus, it can help them in determining the body’s reaction to medicines. Also, this can aid in deciding the course of therapies or treatments for different patients.
Interaction with other medicines
This therapy can react with other medicines and can affect liver enzymes and increase toxicity. Moreover, doctors use certain mix-ups of medicines to increase the effect of treatment. This can help them to decrease disease progression and disease spread.
Conclusion
CYP17 plays an essential role in producing androgens and estrogens. Moreover, this can help hormone-driven prostate cancers to grow. Therefore, doctors use Abiraterone to target this enzyme and block its function. On the other hand, cancer cells rely on this enzyme to grow and replicate. Also, it can starve the tumor and cause programmed cell death.
FAQs
What is the role of the CYP17 enzyme?
This enzyme is responsible for the production of androgens like testosterone. Moreover, tumor can adapt by enhancing their own CYP17 enzyme. Also, this medicine can block testicular and adrenal androgen production.
Why does this abiraterone cause fluid retention?
This medicine can block the CYP17 enzyme, which can cause accumulation of hormones in the adrenal glands. Furthermore, this can trigger the body to retain more salt and water. Thus, it can cause swelling and increased blood pressure.
References
- Ryan, C. J., Smith, M. R., De Bono, J. S., Molina, A., Logothetis, C. J., De Souza, P., … & Rathkopf, D. E. (2013). Abiraterone in metastatic prostate cancer without previous chemotherapy. New England Journal of Medicine, 368(2), 138-148. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1209096
- De Bono, J. S., Logothetis, C. J., Molina, A., Fizazi, K., North, S., Chu, L., … & Scher, H. I. (2011). Abiraterone and increased survival in metastatic prostate cancer. New England Journal of Medicine, 364(21), 1995-2005. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1014618
- James, N. D., de Bono, J. S., Spears, M. R., Clarke, N. W., Mason, M. D., Dearnaley, D. P., … & Sydes, M. R. (2017). Abiraterone for prostate cancer not previously treated with hormone therapy. New England Journal of Medicine, 377(4), 338-351. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1702900
- Thakur, A., Roy, A., Ghosh, A., Chhabra, M., & Banerjee, S. (2018). Abiraterone acetate in the treatment of prostate cancer. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, 101, 211-218. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0753332217351661
- Li, Z., Alyamani, M., Li, J., Rogacki, K., Abazeed, M., Upadhyay, S. K., … & Sharifi, N. (2016). Redirecting abiraterone metabolism to fine-tune prostate cancer anti-androgen therapy. Nature, 533(7604), 547-551. https://www.nature.com/articles/nature17954
