Prostate cancer drug OKd

WASHINGTON —  Federal regulators Monday approved the first new drug to treat prostate cancer in four years.

The injectable treatment from privately held Ferring Pharmaceuticals fights the cancer by lowering levels of testosterone, which promotes the growth of tumors in the prostate.

Food and Drug Administration officials said older drugs in the same class could actually increase testosterone production before they began lowering it. In studies on prostate cancer patients, Ferring showed that its drug, degarelix, does not raise testosterone levels.

According to the FDA, patients treated with degarelix had testosterone levels comparable with those seen after the testes are removed.

“Prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death among men in the United States and there is an ongoing need for additional treatment options,” Richard Pazdur, the FDA’s cancer drug chief, said in a statement.

Prostate drugs in the same class as degarelix include AstraZeneca’s Zoladex and Abbott Laboratories’ Lupron Depot.

Nearly 190,000 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer and 29,000 men died from it in 2004, the most recent year for which statistics are available.