Trials With Dendreon's Sipuleucel-T

Does anyone have any experience with the the phase 3 clinical trial IMPACT study that Dendreon is conducting to further evaluate the benefit of sipuleucel-T in the treatment of prostate cancer? My father has stage 4 prostate cancer and is considering this option.

There was a study already completed with this drug. The study showed that the median overall survival was 25.9 months for sipuleucel-T-treated patients and 21.4 months for placebo-treated patients. After three years, survival was 34 percent for those treated with the vaccine compared to 11 percent for those taking the placebo. The study suggests that sipueucel-T may provide a survival advantage to asymptomatic HRPC patients.

The survival time that you refer to, is that from the time of diagnosis? My dads cancer has spread to his long bones, pelvic bone, spinal column and also into his hip joint, which causes a lot of pain. He has not responded to HT or the lighter dose of chemo. He is starting estramustine taxatere and carboplatin next week. PSA is around 20 and Gleason is a 9.
His energy level is very low (a 30 minute walk makes him very tired, use to have a ton of energy and be in good physical shape) and he has trouble sleeping. I currently live in a different state and want to move to help out when I am needed, which easier said than done when work is taken into consideration. I do not know how fast ones health deteriorates with cancer and I do not want to regret not being there more.
Thanks.

that would be from the time the trial started, not the diagnosis. So I would say you have some time, but metastatic, refractory disease can progress quickly. I understand your dilema. I think if it were me, I would take a leave or something to be there as long as I could. When its all over, you can look back and know you did all you could.