VANTAS - prostate health basics

Know the basics of prostate health

The more you know the better you understand your treatment

A diagnosis of prostate cancer can be unsettling, for both patients and their loved ones. But remember, you are not alone. Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer, other than skin cancer, among men in the US.¹ In fact, The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2008, about 186,320 men will be newly diagnosed with the disease.¹ Yet there's reassuring news—although 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime, only 1 in 35 will die from the disease, and the fatality rate is going down.¹

As part of you and your doctor charting a treatment course, it's important that you learn more about prostate health.

Reference: 1. What are the key statistics about prostate cancer? American Cancer Society Web site. Available at: http://www.cancer.org. Accessed March 12, 2008.

Important Safety Information

VANTAS is contraindicated in women, pediatric patients and patients with hypersensitivity to GnRH, GnRH agonist analogs, or any of the other components of VANTAS.

VANTAS, like other LHRH agonists, causes a transient increase in serum concentrations of testosterone during the first week of treatment. Patients may experience worsening of symptoms or onset of new symptoms, including bone pain, neuropathy, hematuria, or ureteral or bladder outlet obstruction, cases of ureteral obstruction and spinal cord compression. Patients with metastatic vertebral lesions and/or with urinary tract obstruction should be closely observed during the first few weeks of therapy.

Implant insertion and removal is a surgical procedure and should use aseptic technique. Careful adherence to the recommended insertion and removal procedures is recommended. In all clinical trials combined, an implant was not recovered in 8 patients, 2 of these 8 patients had serum testosterone levels above castrate level and the implant was not visualized with ultrasound. In all of the 8 patients, the implant was not palpable.

Response to VANTAS should be monitored measuring serum concentrations of testosterone and PSA periodically.

In clinical trials, the most common adverse reactions were hot flashes, fatigue, and implant site reaction. During post-marketing surveillance, rare cases of pituitary apoplexy have been reported after the administration of GnRH agonists.

Know the basics of prostate health

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Important Safety Information