CAA Club Group adds 24/7 virtual doctors to employee benefits package
Morneau Shepell and Maple provide support to enhance employee well-being
TORONTO, Dec. 18, 2019 /CNW/ - In partnership with Maple, Morneau Shepell is proud to announce CAA Club Group (CCG), has added virtual care to its already extensive extended health benefits package for all full-time and part-time employees. Offered through a joint partnership with Maple and Morneau Shepell's employee and family assistance program (EFAP) team, CAA Club Group's associates will now be able to access doctors in minutes, 24/7, through an industry-leading virtual care platform.
"We are proud to continue supporting the total well-being of CCG's employees," Neil King, president, LifeWorks and executive vice president, Morneau Shepell. "By extending our well-being offering through our partnership with Maple, CCG employees are able to access help when they need it from the comfort of their own home. We are dedicated to improving lives across the continuum of care – from proactive education and awareness to treatment and return to work."
"We invested in this important new benefit because we believe that it will truly be of value to our associates and their families," said Jay Woo, chief executive officer, CCG. "Contributing to the quality of life of our associates is tied to our purpose of ensuring the safety and care of our members, as our associates are members too."
The new benefit will be added on top of CAA Club Group's comprehensive and forward-thinking workplace well-being package, which includes EFAP services through Morneau Shepell. This enhanced focus on employee health and wellness has helped land the company on the list of Greater Toronto's Top Employers ten years running. Even with a progressive benefits package in place, CAA Club Group saw this new offering as essential to the health and well-being of employees.
"At CAA Club Group the health and well-being of our associates is something that we take very seriously," said Mary Duncan, chief human resource officer at CCG. "The introduction of round-the-clock virtual doctors will give associates another tool to use in their wellness journey. We hope that 24/7 access to virtual care will reduce the stress and worry of scheduling a doctor's visit, and give people more time with their families."
It was also important to select a virtual care provider that could connect employees directly with a physician in minutes, for advice, diagnoses and prescriptions, without compromising on continuity of care. It was also essential that the employees have the ability to proactively manage their health and medical records, which is facilitated through Maple's comprehensive virtual medical record. This made Maple the clear choice for CAA Club Group.
"More than ever, employers are looking to empower their workforce to perform their best. Giving employees the tools to proactively manage their health, on their terms, is a big part of that," said Christy Prada, vice president of business development at Maple. "Our medical model allows for a direct connection to a doctor, 24/7, for this very reason — when an employee can get their concern addressed in minutes instead of hours or even days, we know it makes a direct impact on that employee's ability to do their best work."
Rolled out in December, the virtual care offering is just one of the innovative health, and productivity solutions Maple and Morneau Shepell offer to address employee needs across the health care continuum.
About Morneau Shepell Morneau Shepell is the leading provider of technology-enabled HR services that delivers an integrated approach to well-being through our cloud-based platform. Our focus is providing everything our clients need to support the mental, physical, social and financial well-being of their people. By improving lives, we improve business. Our approach spans services in employee and family assistance, health and wellness, recognition, pension and benefits administration, retirement and benefits consulting, actuarial and investment services. Morneau Shepell employs approximately 6,000 employees who work with some 24,000 client organizations that use our services in 162 countries. Morneau Shepell is a publicly traded company on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: MSI). For more information, visit morneaushepell.com.
About Maple Maple is a technology platform that tackles some of the world's most meaningful issues in healthcare, starting with timely and convenient access to doctors and other healthcare providers. It allows patients to connect directly with doctors for medical care in minutes from their smartphone or computer 24/7, and also provides custom technology solutions for hospitals and clinics seeking to advance their delivery of care. Learn more at getmaple.ca.
About CAA Club Group For over a hundred years, CAA has been helping Canadians stay mobile, safe and protected. The CAA Club Group is Canada's largest automotive association comprised of two clubs, CAA South Central Ontario and CAA Manitoba, providing roadside assistance, travel, insurance service and member savings for over 2.3 million members. It also includes the CAA Insurance Company (a national property and casualty insurance company), the Orion Travel Insurance company and Echelon Insurance Company (a specialty insurer).
SOURCE Morneau Shepell Inc.
Parkinson’s symptoms are improved with weekly regimens that include physical and cognitive exercises
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Parkinson’s patients’ symptoms are improved with weekly regimens that include both physical and cognitive exercises
Parkinson’s patients’ motor and non-motor symptoms were improved with a weekly exercise regimen that included physical and cognitive tasks, according to new research presented today (16 December) at The Physiological Society early career conference, Future Physiology 2019: Translating Cellular Mechanisms into Lifelong Health Strategies.
Parkinson’s Disease is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that can lead to disability and make it harder to lead an active lifestyle. Previous research has shown that either physical or cognitive exercises are effective at improving and sustaining cognitive and/or physical function in people with Parkinson’s.
However, doing different types of exercise (e.g. circuit training also including cognitive challenges), may be more beneficial in improving motor and non-motor symptoms.
Researchers at the University of Kent studied Parkinson’s patients that performed a weekly multi-modal regime (physical and cognitive exercises). This group participated in weekly exercise sessions for over a year and were assessed every four months for at least a year (some participants continued on for two or three years).
This once-a-week exercise programme with both physical and cognitive exercises for Parkinson’s disease patients showed an improvement specifically in one-minute sit-to-stand tests and a cognitive test called MiniMental but no other significant changes (i.e. no decline) in cognitive and physical health. This is especially positive as Parkinson’s is a degenerative disease, so the expected outcome, without any interventions, for these symptoms, would be a decline.
These findings are important because they could allow Parkinson’s disease patients to see improvements in their symptoms by correctly tailoring their exercise regimens to include both physical and cognitive exercise.
Anna Ferrusola-Pastrana, a researcher who was involved with the work said:
“Finding the right set of exercises, both cognitive and physical, to improve Parkinson’s treatment is an important step towards giving Parkinson’s patients a better quality of life. This research is working towards honing this set of exercises, which can then potentially be performed by patients, with or without assistance at home.”
The Journal of Physiology publishes advances in physiology which increase our understanding of how our bodies function in health and disease. http://jp.physoc.org
The Physiological Society brings together over 4,000 scientists from over 60 countries. The Society promotes physiology with the public and parliament alike. It supports physiologists by organising world-class conferences and offering grants for research and also publishes the latest developments in the field in its three leading scientific journals, The Journal of Physiology, Experimental Physiology and Physiological Reports. www.physoc.org
How to Get Outside and Active During the Winter Months
It's not a rarity that people's activity tends to slow down around those winter months. Just as nature appears to go into hibernation, so do we as people. Also, we must take into account common holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year. The holiday festivities usually involve eating an assortment of delicious food and spending quality time at home with family. Therefore, it's not much of a surprise that many people pack on extra weight during these occasions. Aside from eating high-fat foods and greater portions of food, the winter months also tend to make one's insulin resistance increase. Thisincrease of insulin resistanceprompted by the brain's response to the cold season results in the liver increasing fat production. Subsequently, this makes our bodies store more fat.
In addition to how our bodies react to the winter season, psychologically people tend to have a bit of a hard time getting out of bed during these cold winter months. Besides, to many people, the morning chill doesn't seem much inviting compared to a warm toasty bed. If it seems impossible to get outside and get active during the winter months, you'll be relieved to know that you can still maintain your fitness by doing the following:
Embrace the Cold
Face the cold fearlessly. There are countless excuses that people make as to why they can't go out and be active during the winter months. One of those excuses is that they'll get sick if they go outdoors. One can always layer their clothes so that the exposure isn't an issue. You can even use the cold breeze to your advantage as it will surely wake you up and re-energize you.
Go with a Group
Working out with a partner can help motivate you to go outdoors and be active. You can go for morning jogs with a neighbor or afternoon walks with a close friend. Make an agreement to hold each other accountable for your fitness progress. Having another person with you while you are being active can lessen the difficulty or discomfort. You'll find yourself too distracted by engaging conversation to be aware of the chilly weather. This also seems to make time go a lot faster and make winter workouts a lot more doable.
Winter Sports Activities
Another way to embrace the cold outdoors is to incorporate it into your fitness routine. Intentionally add winter sports activities such as skiing, snowboarding, sledging, and hiking to your list of activities. Thick clothes and otherTelemarkdowngear offer good coverage for sports like skiing among other outdoor recreations.
Avoid the Flu with These 8 Food Tips
By: Fresh n' Lean, the nation's largest organic meal delivery company
Dek: An immunity-boosting diet featuring yogurt, salmon and oranges can help you prevent the flu.
Meta Description: Flu season is here, so grab an apple and get some sunlight.
Flu season is here – and food is one of your best ways to fight back.
More than 2.6 million flu illnesses are estimated nationwide so far this flu season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.
While the flu vaccine can help prevent the flu or weaken its impact, an immunity-boosting diet is also beneficial.
Here are eight dietary tips to help you avoid getting the flu.
The sunshine vitamin
Soak up the sun to keep the flu away.
Vitamin D, which is produced when your skin is exposed to sunlight, promotes bone health by regulating calcium and phosphorus levels. It’s also known to boost the immune system.
But that’s not all. A study published in 2017 showed Vitamin D supplementation helped protect against respiratory tract infections such as flu.
Beyond sunshine, fresh fish and eggs are also good sources of Vitamin D, and supplements can help you improve your Vitamin D levels.
An apple a day…
… Yes, it really can help to keep the doctor away.
Apples contain soluble fiber, which can build up immune health and reduce inflammation, and tons of antioxidants.
Other foods high in soluble fiber include oat bran, barley, and citrus fruits such as oranges, which contain Vitamin C and can help you bounce back quickly if you get sick.
Yogurt
The best way to boost your immune system is through your gut.
It’s estimated that 70-80% of our immune system cells are in our GI tract, and probiotic-rich yogurt with live and active cultures is a great food to promote gut health. Just as washing your hands helps to limit invaders from entering the body, eating healthy can help provide essential nutrients for our GI tract cells and the bacterial lining, which can directly influence our GI health, systemic inflammation and our immune system.
Stock up on salmon
Oily fish such as salmon are effective in reducing inflammation because they contain omega-3 fatty acids. Other foods rich in omega-3s include anchovies, oysters and walnuts.
Beyond being anti-inflammatory, omega-3s may also reduce anxiety – a key aspect to maintaining health.
Coconut oil
Coconut oil has shown antiviral and antimicrobial properties due to one of its primary components, Lauric Acid. It can be used for cooking and as a replacement for butter in recipes.
Additionally, coconut oil is commonly used to support good dental health and many pediatricians use is topically to help with skin issues.
Make sure to look for coconut oil that’s cold-pressed and produced organically without the use of hexane, an oil-extracting chemical.
Skip the sugar
Treat sugar like fuel for bad health. Excessive sugar intake can increase inflammation, reducing the body’s ability to ward off viruses such as influenza.
Sugar is naturally found in many foods such as fruit (fructose) and dairy (lactose).
The problems escalate with added sugar, the kind found in candy and junk food.
Veggies are your friends
If it’s green, it’s probably good for you.
Cruciferous veggies like kale, broccoli and cauliflower are especially beneficial because they aid our detox systems.
Focus on the colors in healthy foods – they’re part of the plant’s immune system, so eating the rainbow in your diet increases your phytonutrient intake and boosts nutrients to help support your immune function.
Drink your water
Hydration is vital, even in the cold of winter.
Regularly drinking water can help you maintain and improve your immune system.
Water helps to fuel the body’s metabolic processes.
And if you end up coming down with the flu, drinking water and other clear liquids will help you avoid dehydration.
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Start the New Year – and Decade – Off Right with Active Winter Workout Habits in the Freezing Months
Fitness Together®Studio Owner and Certified Personal Trainer Encourages Embracing Cooler Temperatures to Avoid Unmaking Fitness Progress During Holidays
BEVERLY, MA (December 16, 2019) – As winter weather settles in throughout the United States, athletes and people trying to stay active face the same dilemma: how to work out during the freezing months. Fitness Together®studio owner and ACE certified personal trainer Derek Maxfieldsays that, even though it’s easier to stay indoors or fall into a cycle of skipping your workout routines, his Beverly, MA studio trainers encourage clients to endure and embrace the cooler temperatures to bring you closer to your new year and decade fitness goals.
“As with any challenge to your professional, personal, or fitness goals, adversity creates opportunity,” says Derek. “Cooler weather is an opportunity to push your limits and strengthen areas of your workout which you overlook in warmer months, such as strengthening your heart for greater blood distribution throughout the body, noticing the importance of warm-ups and cool-downs, and – most importantly – building tolerance to adversity.”
Here are more helpful winter workout tips from Derek:
Find outdoor activities you enjoy.
To build up tolerance to the cold, pick an activity you enjoy and get outside. Have you ever been snowshoeing or cross-country skiing? Find your local ski rental shop and take your family on a new adventure at a local park. For those located near mountains, pick up skiing, snowboarding, and sledding. For those without mountains, towns and cities typically set up seasonal ice rinks for skating. Getting active in winter can even include building a snow fort with your family, picking a snow ball fight, making snow angels, or collecting snow cones for fresh scents in the home.
How to stay motivated.
Reverse how you perceive the cold weather. Instead of thinking how cold you might feel at first, think of how many extra calories you’re able to burn in the cold as the body works against the cold to regulate its temperature. Nutritionally, be mindful at holiday parties and meals to not over-indulge, potentially unmaking progress you’ve made. It’s always better to start the new year – and decade – off right with good habits than having to dig yourself out of a hole.
Warm-ups and cool-down exercises.
Rehabilitation exercises and stretches generally help to avoid getting hurt during workouts in colder weather or for any winter-time activity, such as shoveling snow. In addition to keeping active overall, exercises like bird dogs, back extensions, planks, squats, and hip lifts are helpful, ensuring the core, hips, and lower back are healthy for movements like shoveling.
Derekis the owner of the Fitness Together®studio inBeverly, MA, and has conducted over 35,000 personal training sessions throughout his career. Derek’s specialty as a certified personal trainer is identifying exercise activities that clients enjoy in order to achieve full engagement and results. Derek was named the 2013 Greater Beverly Chamber of Commerce Young Entrepreneur of the Year, has actively participated inprofessional groups such as BNI, Beverly Rotary, and the Greater Beverly Chamber of Commerce, and is the host of an award-winning information program called “Half Hour of Health” that airs on BevCam, Beverly’s exclusive access television network.
Experienced professional trainers at Fitness Together®studios are dedicated to creating personalized fitness routines that are tailored to each client's specific health and wellness goals. Fitness Together studio owners seek to utilize some of the most educated, experienced trainers in the industry along with real-world fitness experience to help clients achieve optimal health through a customized, industry-leading fitness program. Sessions take place in a private workout suite, which means no distractions and no waiting for equipment, so clients can focus on producing results. To begin your journey with a Fitness Together professional trainer, please visit fitnesstogether.com to locate one of the nearly 140 locations nationwide to find the one nearest you.
About the Fitness Together®Brand
The Fitness Together®brand is a one-on-one private, personal training franchise focused on changing clients’ lives with improved fitness and health. Whether the aim is to lose weight, tone and tighten muscles, or simply achieve better health, Fitness Together trainers partner with clients to help create a workout plan tailored for the individual’s goals, and focus on results. Clients receive the accountability they need and the privacy they desire with the Fitness Together brand.
Fitness Together Franchise, LLC began franchising in 1996, and has approximately 140 locations across the United States with additional locations planned for 2020. To learn more about the brand and owning a Fitness Together® franchise, visit www.fitnesstogetherfranchise.com. Each Fitness Together®is independently owned and operated. Fitness Together®and Fitness Together + design are registered trademarks owned by Fitness Together Franchise, LLC.
HIIT timing matters for increasing fitness
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
High intensity interval training (HIIT) is only effective for improving fitness when performed at 60-second intervals, according to new research from Liverpool John Moores University, presented today (Tuesday 17 December) at The Physiological Society early career conference, Future Physiology 2019: Translating Cellular Mechanisms into Lifelong Health Strategies.
Currently 40% of people in the UK do not meet the Government’s physical activity guidelines, with a lack of time cited as the most common barrier.
HIIT, meaning short burst (anywhere from 20 to 90 seconds) of intense cardio exercises is a time-efficient alternative that has been making headlines in the last decade. Specifically, home-based HIIT, which involves doing HIIT training at home using simple body weight exercises, has become popular because it gets rid of the barriers such as the time and money required to go to the gym..
Researchers at Liverpool John Moores University compared two popular HIIT protocols (60HIIT and 30HIIT) performed for six weeks, three times per week, in a sample of 26 previously sedentary men and women. 60HIIT means 6-10 60-second intervals with 60 seconds of rest, whereas 30HIIT means 4-8 30 seconds intervals with 120 seconds of rest.
They kept track of training adherence and intensity remotely via a heart rate monitor that fed info through a mobile app. The researchers looked at three parameters of fitness: aerobic capacity, stiffness of arteries, and body composition (meaning how much muscle and fat they had) during the six weeks of HIIT.
Aerobic capacity increased after six weeks of 60HIIT but there was no difference for 30HIIT on any of the three parameters. This means that 60HIIT should be used over 30HIIT because the former improves fitness whereas the latter doesn’t.
Hannah Church, one of the researchers involved said:
“In order for people to get the most out of HIIT, which may be the answer to the difficulties of paying for and getting to the gym, we need to get the timing right. Our research showed just how important this is, because we found that 30 second intervals with 120 seconds of rest meant that participants’ heart rates didn’t stay up. 120 seconds is just too long to be resting for!”E
The Physiological Society brings together over 4,000 scientists from over 60 countries. The Society promotes physiology with the public and parliament alike. It supports physiologists by organising world-class conferences and offering grants for research and also publishes the latest developments in the field in its three leading scientific journals, The Journal of Physiology, Experimental Physiology and Physiological Reports. www.physoc.org
Rice, Texas Heart Institute scientists model how synthetic gels can tune body’s inflammatory response
HOUSTON – (Dec. 16, 2019) – Hydrogels for healing, synthesized from the molecules up by Rice University bioengineers, are a few steps closer to the clinic.
Rice researchers and collaborators at Texas Heart Institute (THI) have established a baseline set of injectable hydrogels that promise to help heal wounds, deliver drugs and treat cancer. Critically, they’ve analyzed how the chemically distinct hydrogels provoke the body’s inflammatory response — or not.
Hydrogels developed at Rice are designed to be injectable and create a mimic of cellular scaffolds in a desired location. They serve as placeholders while the body naturally feeds new blood vessels and cells into the scaffold, which degrades over time to leave natural tissue in its place. Hydrogels can also carry chemical or biological prompts that determine the scaffold’s structure or affinity to the surrounding tissue.
The study led by chemist and bioengineer Jeffrey Hartgerink and graduate student Tania Lopez-Silva at Rice and Darren Woodside, vice president for research and director of the flow cytometry and imaging core at THI, demonstrates it should be possible to tune multidomain peptide hydrogels to produce appropriate inflammatory response for what they’re treating.
“We’ve been working on peptide-based hydrogels for a number of years and have produced about 100 different types,” Hartgerink said. “In this paper, we wanted to back up a bit and understand some of the fundamental ways in which they modify biological environments.”
The researchers wanted to know specifically how synthetic hydrogels influence the environment’s inflammatory response. The two-year study offered the first opportunity to test a variety of biocompatible hydrogels for the levels of inflammatory response they trigger.
“Usually, we think of inflammation as bad,” Hartgerink said. “That's because inflammation is sometimes associated with pain, and nobody likes pain. But the inflammatory response is also extremely important for wound healing and in clearing infection.
“We don’t want zero inflammation; we want appropriate inflammation,” he said. “If we want to heal wounds, inflammation is good because it starts the process of rebuilding vasculature. It recruits all kinds of cells that are regenerative to that site.”
The labs tested four basic hydrogel types — two with positive charge and two negative — to see what kind of inflammation they would trigger. They discovered that positively charged hydrogels triggered a much stronger inflammatory response than negatively charged ones.
“Among the positive materials, depending on the chemistry generating that charge, we can either generate a strong or a moderate inflammatory response,” Hartgerink said. “If you're going for wound-healing, you really want a moderate response, and we saw that in one of the four materials.
“But if you want to go for a cancer treatment, the higher inflammatory response might be more effective,” he said. “For something like drug delivery, where inflammation is not helpful, one of the negatively charged materials might be better.
“Basically, we're laying the groundwork to understand how to develop materials around the inflammatory responses these materials provoke. That will give us our best chance of success.”
The THI team helped analyze the cellular response to the hydrogels through multidimensional flow cytometry.
“The results of this work lay the groundwork for specifically tailoring delivery of a therapeutic by a delivery vehicle that is functionally relevant and predictable,” Woodside said. “Aside from delivering drugs, these hydrogels are also compatible with a variety of cell types.
“One of the problems with stem cell therapies at present is that adoptively transferred cells don’t necessarily stay in high numbers at the site of injection,” he said. “Mixing these relatively inert, negatively charged hydrogels with stem cells before injection may overcome this limitation.”
Hartgerink said the work is foundational, rather than geared toward a specific application, but is important to the long-term goal of bringing synthetic hydrogels to the clinic. “We have been speculating about a lot of the things we think are good and true about this material, and we now have more of a sound mechanistic understanding of why they are, in fact, true,” Hartgerink said.
Co-authors of the paper are Rice graduate student David Leach and alumnus I-Chi Li and THI researcher Alon Azares.
The National Institutes of Health, the Welch Foundation, the Mexican National Council for Science and Technology, the National Science Foundation and a Stauffer-Rothrock Fellowship supported the research.
An illustration shows how effective a selection of custom-designed peptide hydrogels are in controlling inflammation. The gels developed at Rice University serve as scaffolds for new tissue and show promise for treating wounds and cancer and for delivering drugs. The hydrogels are designed to dissolve in the body as they are replaced by natural, functional tissue. (Illustration by Tania Lopez-Silva/Rice University)
Researchers at Rice University and Texas Heart institutes tested a sampling of synthetic, biocompatible hydrogels to see how tuning them influences the body’s inflammatory response. The hydrogels are being developed to help heal wounds, deliver drugs and treat cancer. (Credit: Rice University/Texas Heart Institute)
The Texas Heart Institute (THI), founded by world-renowned cardiovascular surgeon Dr. Denton A. Cooley in 1962, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing the devastating toll of cardiovascular disease through innovative and progressive programs in research, education and improved patient care. More information about THI (@Texas_Heart) is available at www.texasheart.org.
Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation’s top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,962 undergraduates and 3,027 graduate students, Rice’s undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for lots of race/class interaction and No. 4 for quality of life by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.
Health Canada Approves New Indication for ERLEADA®* (apalutamide) for the Treatment of Metastatic Castration-Sensitive Prostate Cancer (mCSPC)
In the Phase 3 TITAN study, ERLEADA®, in combination with androgen deprivation therapy, achieved statistical significance in dual primary endpoints of overall survival and radiographic progression-free survival in patients with mCSPC regardless of extent of disease
TORONTO, Dec. 16, 2019 /CNW/ - The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson announced today that Health Canada, following a Priority Review, has approved ERLEADA® (apalutamide) for the treatment of patients with metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer (mCSPC).1
This approval is based on results from the Phase 3 TITAN study, which achieved statistical significance in the dual primary endpoints of overall survival (OS) and radiographic progression-free survival (rPFS) at the first pre-planned interim analysis.2 The trial recruited patients with both high- and low-volume disease burden, high- and low-risk disease, and previously treated, relapsed or newly diagnosed disease.1,3Results were presented at the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting and simultaneously published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Prior to this approval, there has not been a treatment option in Canada that delays disease progression and extends overall survival for patients with prostate cancer regardless of their disease stage, risk or disease volume.
"Given the urgency to delay the progression of metastatic prostate cancer, there continues to be a need for additional therapeutic options beyond traditional androgen deprivation therapy," said Dr. Fred Saad, Professor and Chief of Urology, University of Montreal Hospital Center.** "This new indication for ERLEADA® represents an important advancement for patients regardless of the extent of their disease and may enable some patients with mCSPC to live longer."
In the TITAN study, ERLEADA® plus androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) significantly extended OS compared to placebo plus ADT, with a 33 per cent reduction in the risk of death (HR=0.67; 95 per cent CI, 0.51-0.89; P=0.0053).1 ERLEADA® plus ADT also significantly improved rPFS compared to placebo plus ADT, with a 52 per cent lower risk of radiographic progression or death (HR=0.48; 95 per cent CI, 0.39-0.60; P<0.0001).1 As reported in the published results from the TITAN study, the two-year OS rates, after a median follow-up of 22.7 months, were 82 per cent for ERLEADA® plus ADT compared to 74 per cent for placebo plus ADT.2 Based on these results, the Independent Data-Monitoring Committee recommended unblinding the study to allow crossover of patients receiving placebo plus ADT to receive ERLEADA®plus ADT.
"While the relative survival rate for regional or localized prostate cancer is nearly 100 per cent after five years, we still lose three in four patients with distant or advanced prostate cancer," said Dr. Stuart Edmonds, Vice President, Research, Health Promotion and Survivorship, Prostate Cancer Canada.*** "Canadian families facing mCSPC need more treatment options to help them live longer and spend more time together, and we are pleased that there is an option to fill that gap."
About the TITAN Study1 TITAN is a Phase 3, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study in patients with mCSPC. The study included 1,052 patients in 23 countries across 260 sites in North America, Latin America, South America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. Patients with mCSPC were randomized 1:1 and received either ERLEADA® (240 mg) plus ADT (n=525) or placebo plus ADT (n=527).1 The recruitment period for the study spanned from December 2015 to July 2017.2 The study included patients with mCSPC, including those with high- or low-volume disease, previous docetaxel use, previous treatment for localized disease, and those who had either relapsed from localized prostate cancer or newly diagnosed disease.1
An Independent Data-Monitoring Committee was commissioned to monitor safety and efficacy.1 Dual primary endpoints of the study were OS and rPFS.1 Secondary endpoints included time to cytotoxic chemotherapy, time to pain progression, time to chronic opioid use, and time to skeletal-related event.1 Exploratory endpoints included time to PSA progression, PFS2, health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and time to symptomatic local progression.2 For additional study information, visit ClinicalTrials.gov.
The most common adverse reactions (≥15 per cent) that occurred more frequently in ERLEADA®-treated patients (≥2 per cent over placebo) from the randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial were hot flush, fatigue, arthralgia, rash and hypertension.1
About Prostate Cancer and mCSPC Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among Canadian men.3 Approximately one in seven men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime and one in 29 will die from the disease.4
Metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer (mCSPC), also known as metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC), refers to prostate cancer that still responds to androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and has spread beyond the prostate to other areas of the body.5
About ERLEADA® ERLEADA® is an androgen receptor (AR) inhibitor indicated for the treatment of patients with non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (nmCRPC) and for the treatment of patients with mCSPC.1
ERLEADA® received Health Canada approval for nmCRPC on July 3, 2018 and was approved for mCSPC on December 13, 2019. ERLEADA® is taken orally, once daily, with or without food.1
The Canadian Urological Association (CUA) and the Canadian Urological Oncology Group (CUOG) Guidelines for Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer (CRPC) recommend clinicians offer apalutamide (ERLEADA®) as a treatment option for patients living with high-risk nmCRPC, defined as a PSA doubling time (PSADT) of less than 10 months, with an estimated life expectancy of greater than five years.6
For full Product Monograph and more information about ERLEADA®, please visit www.janssen.com/canada.
About the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson At Janssen, we're creating a future where disease is a thing of the past. We're the Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, working tirelessly to make that future a reality for patients everywhere by fighting sickness with science, improving access with ingenuity, and healing hopelessness with heart. We focus on areas of medicine where we can make the biggest difference: Cardiovascular & Metabolism, Immunology, Infectious Diseases & Vaccines, Neuroscience, Oncology, and Pulmonary Hypertension.
*All trademark rights used under license. **Dr. Saad was not compensated for any media work. He has been compensated as a consultant. ***Prostate Cancer Canada was not compensated for any media work. Prostate Cancer Canada has received funds for patient engagement.
Cautions Concerning Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding ERLEADA®. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations of future events. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results could vary materially from the expectations and projections of Janssen Inc., any of the other Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies and/or Johnson & Johnson. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: challenges and uncertainties inherent in product research and development, including the uncertainty of clinical success and of obtaining regulatory approvals; uncertainty of commercial success; manufacturing difficulties and delays; competition, including technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges to patents; product efficacy or safety concerns resulting in product recalls or regulatory action; changes in behavior and spending patterns of purchasers of health care products and services; changes to applicable laws and regulations, including global health care reforms; and trends toward health care cost containment. A further list and descriptions of these risks, uncertainties and other factors can be found in Johnson & Johnson's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 30, 2018, including in the sections captioned "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" and "Item 1A. Risk Factors," and in the company's most recently filed Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, and the company's subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Copies of these filings are available online at www.sec.gov, www.jnj.com or on request from Johnson & Johnson. None of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies nor Johnson & Johnson undertakes to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information or future events or developments.
References
1 ERLEADA® Canadian Product Monograph. December 3, 2019.
2 Chi, K. Apalutamide for Metastatic, Castration Sensitive Prostate Cancer. New England Journal of Medicine. Accessed September 2019.
6 Saad F, Aprikian A, Finelli A, et al. 2019 Canadian Urological Association (CUA)-Canadian Uro Oncology Group (CUOG) guideline: Management of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Can Urol Assoc J. 2019;13(10):307-314.
SOURCE Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson
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