The drug Sipuleucel-T (Provenge) is used for men with prostate cancer that are no longer responding to hormone therapy alone. This is sometimes called castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Sipuleucel-T is given to men who have cancer that has spread to other parts of the body (metastasized), but who have few to no symptoms.
It is tailor made from the patient’s own immune cells, which are extracted and then treated with a protein that also includes a growth factor — a substance that causes the immune cells to grow and divide. This creates an army of immune cells that will stimulate the patient’s own immune system to recognize, attach to and kill prostate cancer cells. It is generally very well tolerated with few significant side effects.
