Brand new to Louisiana is PROVENGE® (sipuleucel-T), a treatment for advanced prostate cancer patients. This groundbreaking treatment is the first in a new therapeutic class know as autologous cellular immunotherapies.

“It’s a medicine that stimulates the body’s immune system to fight back against prostate cancer,” explained Dr. James Cole, an oncologist and hematologist at Louisiana Oncology Associates (LOA) headquartered in Lafayette, with offices in Opelousas, New Iberia and Crowley.

LOA is among the first sites in the nation to use this advanced therapy. Manufactured by Dendreon, the treatment requires three cycles, usually two weeks apart. Each cycle starts with leukapherisis, followed by a PROVENGE infusion.

Prior to PROVENGE® treatment, the patients report to a leukapheresis center in Metairie for blood collection. The patient’s blood is drawn and is passed through a machine that collects a small portion of immune cells, platelets and red blood cells. The immune cells are then sent to a Dendreon manufacturing facility to be combined with acid phosphatase along with a stimulating medication called GM-CSF.

Three days later, that combination is re-infused, stimulating the patient’s own immune system to fight back against prostate cancer. Each infusion takes about 60 minutes. Following the treatment, doctors observe patients for at least 30 minutes.

PROVENGE® is the only FDA-approved immunotherapy for men with advanced prostate cancer. “Basically, it’s a therapy with minimal side effects which has been shown to significantly extend people’s survival with incurable prostate cancer,” Cole explained.

This treatment is an option for advanced asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic metastatic castrate resistant advanced prostate cancer (mCRPC). The medication is not recommended for patients who are taking narcotics for cancer-related pain. “The indications are for patients who have disease that has spread either to the bones or the pelvis that no longer responds to hormone therapy, but are otherwise having minimal symptoms from the cancer itself,” Cole explained.

LOA’s first patient was Weston Stoute, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer and had a prostatectomy in 2001. For nine years, he took a Lupron shot every three months with no problems. Eventually, he started having back pain. His neurologist did an MRI, which revealed enlarged lymph nodes in his lower back. He was referred by his oncologist to a prostate specialist at Tulane Cancer Center. That doctor recommended PROVENGE.® Stoute searched for an oncologist in Lafayette for another opinion. He found Dr. Cole, who recommended the same treatment.

After the first infusion, Stoute had “a little cold, but that was it,” he said. “It went fine.” His PSA went down a point following this premier PROVENGE® dose.

Stoute’s second session was delayed by a hurricane. When he finally got the immunotherapy, he had chills while receiving the medication. After the third treatment, he did fine during administration, but later woke up at 2 a.m. with chills and fever. He took over-the-counter medication and used ice packs to break the fever. By the next morning, he was fine. He is scheduled to have his next prostate-specific antigen test in January, 2012.

Despite the mild side effects, Stoute recommends the treatment. “Absolutely,” he said. “The thing that irks me the most is taking Lupron, because Lupron causes loss of muscle mass, and my legs are weak and I’m losing a lot of muscle. I’m hoping it (PROVENGE) works.”

Cole confirms that reported side effects are very mild and easily treated. “Usually, fever, chills, but nothing more than that – no nausea, vomiting or hair loss that people think about with chemotherapy,” he said.

Dendreon’s website indicates that PROVENGE® extends median survival beyond two years in men with asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic mCRPC. “You are helping people live longer with the cancer,” Cole said. “It’s not a cure, but it does significantly extend survival.” 

First-time patient J.C. DeBlanc was on his way to his first PROVENGE® treatment when he spoke with Louisiana Medical News. In 2008, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and received radiation and hormone treatments. At first, his condition was controlled. But eventually, his PSA level started rising.  An MRI in January 2011, revealed that the cancer had spread to his neck bones.

DeBlanc first heard about PROVENGE® last year through a friend, and mentioned it to his doctors. At the time, they “weren’t keen on it,” he reported. But, in September, his oncologist, Dr. Karen Roden, gave him the green light for the treatment. He went to New Orleans to have his blood drawn for the process.

At the time of the interview, DeBlanc was upbeat. “I am very, very optimistic,” he said. “It makes you live longer.”

LOA has several more patients who are in the process of getting approved and/or scheduled. Other Louisiana sites offering PROVENGE® include Tulane University and Ochsner Foundation Hospital in New Orleans, Slidell Memorial Hospital Regional Cancer Center, Highland Clinic in Shreveport, Medical Oncology, L.L.C. and Hematology Oncology Clinic in Baton Rouge, and Hematology Oncology Life Center in Alexandria.

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