VANTAS - risk factors

Know the basics of prostate health

Risk factors

Being aware of the risk factors and getting checked regularly can increase your chances of early diagnosis and better control of the disease. The chance that a man will develop prostate cancer increases with age.¹ The disease is rare in men younger than 40, while more than 70% of new instances of prostate cancer are diagnosed in men over the age of 65.¹ Race can also be a factor—African American men are at greater risk for prostate cancer than any other group in the US.¹ Men with a family history of prostate cancer are also at greater risk.¹ In particular, you should be aware of whether any immediate male family member, such as a father or brother, was ever diagnosed with prostate cancer.¹ Be sure to speak with your doctor about other factors that may increase the risk for prostate cancer.

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

Click here for a larger view

Important Safety Information