MARINA DEL REY, Calif., April 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Join Prostate Oncology Specialists for an educational talk about PROVENGE – a treatment to stimulate the immune system for advanced prostate cancer.  Prostate cancer specialist, Dr. Jeffrey Turner, presents and reviews key topics:

Why PROVENGE might be right for me?
How do I know the PROVENGE treatment is working?
How is PROVENGE different from hormone or chemotherapy?
Does PROVENGE affect my PSA?
How does PROVENGE boost my immune system?

PROVENGE is the first FDA-approved immunotherapy that attacks advanced prostate cancer. PROVENGE is a personalized treatment, a cellular immunotherapy designed to stimulate the patient's own immune system to identify, target, and remember prostate cancer cells.  Once the patient's immune cells are collected, they are sent to the PROVENGE manufacturing facility in Seal Beach, CA. There, the patient's immune cells are combined with PROVENGE, which activates the cells to attack the prostate cancer. PROVENGE reduced the risk of prostate cancer related deaths by 22.5% and can extend survival beyond 2 years.

"The immune system is vital to a person's survival rate. At Prostate Oncology, we have treated more than100 patients – we use PROVENGE as the backbone of our treatments to make sure the patient's immune system is as strong as possible to help fight the prostate cancer." states Dr. Turner.

Prostate Oncology Specialists has conducted clinical trials to evaluate the immune response induced by PROVENGE. For more information on these clinical trials see: http://www.prostateoncology.com/clinical_trials

This educational event is free and open to the public. Hors d'oeuvres will be served. Seating is limited. RSVP by April 28, 2014.

ABOUT JEFFREY TURNER, MD
Dr. Turner is a board-certified internist and medical oncologist and joined the Prostate Oncology Specialists team with Drs. Mark Scholz and Richard Lam since 2012.  Dr. Turner has specialized in prostate cancer since 2009.  He is a Long Beach and Los Alamitos native, graduated cum laude from USC and he worked in research at UCLA studying infectious disease and molecular biology.  Dr. Turner has published several articles on urologic cancers with an emphasis on prostate cancer.  He is a sub-investigator of a number of ongoing prostate cancer clinical trials.

ABOUT PROVENGE^® (sipuleucel-T) is approved by the FDA as an autologous cellular immunotherapy for the treatment of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic metastatic castrate resistant (hormone refractory) prostate cancer.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

PROVENGE is made from your own immune cells. Your cells will be collected at a cell collection center approximately 3 days before each scheduled infusion of PROVENGE. There can be risks associated with the cell collection process, which you should discuss with your doctor before deciding to begin treatment with PROVENGE.

PROVENGE can cause serious reactions. In controlled clinical trials for the treatment of prostate cancer, serious reactions reported in patients in the PROVENGE group included reactions resulting from the infusion of the drug, which occurred within 1 day of infusion, and strokes. Severe infusion reactions included chills, fever, fatigue, weakness, breathing problems (shortness of breath, decreased oxygen level, and wheezing), dizziness, headache, high blood pressure, muscle ache, nausea, and vomiting. Tell your doctor right away if you have breathing problems, chest pains, racing heart or irregular heartbeats, dizziness, nausea, or vomiting after getting PROVENGE because any of these may be signs of heart or lung problems.

The most common side effects reported with PROVENGE were chills, fatigue, fever, back pain, nausea, joint ache, and headache. These are not all the possible side effects of PROVENGE treatment. For more information, talk with your doctor.

Tell your doctor about all your medical problems including heart problems, lung problems or a history of stroke.

Tell your doctor right away if you get a fever over 100°F, or redness at the cell collection or infusion sites, because any of these may be signs of infection.

Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, including prescription and nonprescription drugs, vitamins, and dietary supplements.

Tell your doctor about any side effect that concerns you or does not go away.

For more information on PROVENGE, please see the Full Prescribing Information or call 1-800-667-5924.

RELATED LINKS
prostateoncology.com
provenge.com

SOURCE Prostate Oncology Specialists, Inc.