Sipuleucel-T

Sipuleucel-T (APC8015, trade name Provenge), developed by Dendreon Corporation, is a cell-based cancer immunotherapy for prostate cancer (CaP). It is a personalized treatment that works by programming each patient's immune system to seek out cancer and attack it as if it were foreign.A course of treatment consists of three basic steps:Sipuleucel-T is used to treat people with metastatic, asymptomatic, hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC). Other names for this stage are metastatic castrate-resistant (mCRPC) and androgen independent (AI) or (AIPC). This stage leads to mCRPC with lymph node involvement and distal (distant) tumors; this is the lethal stage of CaP. The prostate cancer staging designation is T4,N1,M1c.Sipuleucel-T showed overall survival (OS) benefit to patients in three double-blind randomized phase III clinical trials, D9901, D9902a, and IMPACT.Common side effects include: bladder pain; bloating or swelling of the face, arms, hands, lower legs, or feet; bloody or cloudy urine; body aches or pain; chest pain; chills; confusion; cough; diarrhea; difficult, burning, or painful urination; difficulty with breathing; difficulty with speaking up to inability to speak; double vision; sleeplessnes; and inability to move the arms, legs, or facial muscles.Sipuleucel-T was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on April 29, 2010, to treat asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic metastatic HRPC.  This article incorporates public domain material from the U.S. National Cancer Institute document 'Dictionary of Cancer Terms'.