Fighting Prostate Cancer With A New Weapon

BETHESDA, Md. (WUSA) -- Phil Druker is 64-years old and a retired professor. In April 2002 he was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. He was told his cancer wasn't going away.

"This cancer really doesn't have a cure the radiation knocks it down and the hormone treatment keeps the cancer from spreading in my body," Phil tells us

But this active outdoorsman thinks of himself as a "healthy person who happens to have cancer." He's been searching for a treatment that wouldn't keep him down.

Oncologist Dr. Ralph Boccia with The Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders told him about a new weapon called PROVENGE an FDA approved prostate cancer vaccine.

"This is particularly a nice therapy because rather being a therapy that bombards the cancer and unfortunately the rest of the body like chemo therapy would do. This one really is using the tools of the patients own immune system to actually fight and kill the cancer cells," Dr. Boccia says.

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