What’s in a name?

Drugs 101—pay attention, there will be a test later
 

There are many Prostate Cancer medications in current use (and approved by the FDA). New ones are approved as older ones become less effective and disappear. Part of the formula has to do with money. No drug manufacturer wants to produce and market a drug that won’t make a profit for them. After the patent runs out—usually 17 years from the date it went into effect‑‑the drug becomes generic and can be manufactured by just about anybody and will almost certainly be less expensive.

If you’re taking a prostate cancer drug you probably know its name (at least one of them). But did you know that every drug has three or more names? The name you know is probably the brand name. It also has a generic name, and a chemical name or formula, mostly impossible to understand. Sometimes the chemical name is abbreviated during the Clinical Trials stage, something like FUN-4U.For example, I take Zytiga, the brand name of a drug manufactured by Johnson & Johnson (aka Janssen). The generic name of the drug is abiraterone acetate, assigned by the FDA when it was approved, and the chemical formula is 3β-Acetoxy-17-(3-pyridyl)-androsta-5,16-diene. When a drug finally becomes available in generic form it may have yet more names. Confused yet?

You can find the names and history of your drug or drugs at the NIH prostate cancer drug site. You might discover that there is a much less expensive generic version of your brand name prescription drug. That is good. Generic drugs are required by the FDA to be exactly the same as the original brand name drug. Another personal example of this—I take prednisone along with my Zytiga. The prednisone, a generic drug, costs pennies a month. The Zytiga, a brand name drug, costs many thousands a month (before my Medicare Part D kicks in and reduces it to just many thousands a year).

Some men who need these very expensive drugs are not rich or do not have a health insurance plan that helps enough. This is also true of drugs for other cancers and many other medical conditions for both men and women. Sadly, life-saving treatment for some still depends on their ability to pay.

Oh, there is no test, you passed by just reading this far so you can relax.

axman

Being Aware of Prostate Cancer!

Every month I am aware of my prostate cancer, along with another two and a half million American men and millions more worldwide. There are many little hints to help us remember—scars, side effects of treatments, pills and injections, blood draws, scans, and endless medical appointments.

September is National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month (2014) and has been designated and proclaimed as a month to focus awareness, gain knowledge, and increase funding for research. A cure is still the goal and my personal preference.

Statistics can tell us a lot and help us understand the scope of prostate cancer. The median age for prostate cancer diagnosis is 66. So you’d think it is an old man’s disease. It is certainly more common in older men but many younger men are diagnosed and there are even several hundred young boys with prostate cancer (I was surprised, too).

Prostate cancer is the most diagnosed cancer in the U.S. with breast cancer in women a close second. But the most deadly cancer continues to be lung cancer, as it has been for decades.

Prostate cancer survival rates have increased greatly in the last 40 years. Thanks to research and the development of new and better treatments The five year survival rate after diagnosis was 66% in 1975, 88% in 1990, and is more than 99% today. I say Woo Hoo to that. I am sure that more than 99% of me has survived since my diagnosis in 2003.

Statistics don’t tell us everything. Statistics are averages, percentages, and points on a graph used to show information for a large number of people. Statistics can’t tell you what will happen to you. Any individual could be diagnosed at 35 or 95 or, most likely, not at all. If you are diagnosed and have incurable prostate cancer, you could have a very aggressive and deadly type, or a slow growing type that will never become a factor in your health. Remember, we are individuals‑‑not statistics.

Bottom Line

1 See your doctor, ask questions, listen, and mutually make a plan that works for you—it may take a few tries.

2 Talk to your friends and suggest they see their doctor. Early diagnosis really is the key to long term survival.

3 Participate in clinical trials if given the chance.

4 Donate a few bucks to prostate cancer research—it won’t kill you and just might help save somebody else.

axman