Evidence from one of the three trials in the bicalutamide (Casodex™) 150mg Early Prostate Cancer (EPC) Programme presented at the meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, also shows that time to prostate-specific antigen (PSA) doubling was significantly delayed in patients on Casodex™ 150mg compared with standard treatment alone. These findings give new hope that the mortality associated with prostate cancer could be reduced by early use of Casodex™.

Sales of Casodex™ have grown substantially since the treatment was first introduced in 1995. In 2000, Casodex's™ worldwide sales of $433m showed a 31 per cent increase compared with the previous year. Casodex™ is one of five important AstraZeneca products whose growth is being fuelled by life cycle initiatives.

Chris Brinsmead, Vice-President Oncology, said: "These promising results give us confidence that Casodex™ for this use could be of tremendous benefit to patients by treating the disease in the early stages. The indication for early prostate cancer could add significantly to the value of Casodex™, which has been developed during the past few years through similar extensions of use."

The Bicalutamide 150mg (Casodex™) Early Prostate Cancer (EPC) Programme is the largest randomised clinical trial ever conducted in Prostate Cancer. It was set up to examine whether adding Casodex™ 150mg immediately to standard care (watchful waiting, radical prostatectomy or radiotherapy) can reduce the risk of disease progression and improve survival when compared to standard care alone. The Programme comprises of three similar studies, which have enrolled 8,113 male patients in 23 countries^* aged 38 to 93 years, with localised and locally advanced prostate cancer. The first results presented today were extracted from Study 24, one of the three studies that was conducted in Europe, South Africa, Australia, Israel and Mexico.

Combined results from the three studies forming the EPC programme will be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting, San Francisco, in May 2001 and at the American Urological Association (AUA) meeting, Anaheim, in June 2001.

The data formed the basis of a regulatory submission in the UK and will be submitted to other regulatory authorities around the world during the course of 2001, with the aim of providing clinicians and patients with an additional treatment option for EPC. This is two years ahead of schedule.

Despite an increase in public awareness and screening, prostate cancer does not have the same level of public recognition as other forms of cancer, such as breast cancer, and yet it is the second most commonly diagnosed male cancer in many western countries after lung cancer  [1]. In 2000, it was estimated that in the USA alone 180,400 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer, and 31,900 died as a result  [2].