Drug-maker Sanofi-Aventis has developed a new medication that extended the lives of men with advanced prostate cancer in clinical trials and could become a last-chance medication for certain patients, according to a recent news article.

It is good news for African American men. Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of death among black men after lung cancer. When compared to all causes of death, it is the fourth leading cause for men over 45, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The new drug, cabazitaxel, would be used when traditional therapy fails, according to the article in the New York Times. It was tested on 755 men from 26 countries whose cancer advanced in spite of treatment with the traditional drug, Taxotere, a chemotherapy drug sold by Sanofi-Aventis.

Cancer that has extended beyond the prostate gland is usually treated with drugs that depletes a man's ability to create testosterone, a hormone that aides in the spread of cancer. When that treatment fails, the only approved alternative is Taxotere, which also can be ineffective.

Men in the clinical trial who were treated with cabazitaxel lived a median of 15.1 months, compared with 12.7 months for those who received another cancer drug, mitoxantrone, the article says.

Dr. Oliver Sartor, a professor at Tulane Cancer Center and lead investigator of the trial in North America, said that up to 20,000 American men with advanced prostate cancer were now treated with Taxotere each year, but 27,000 Americans died each year of the disease, the article says.

Sanofi-Aventis plans to complete its application to the Food and Drug Administration for approval early this year, which would allow the drug to hit the market by early next year.

Prostate cancer, like heart disease, is known as the silent killer. It has no symptoms. If symptoms do appear they include blood in the urine; frequent urination, especially at night; weak or interrupted urine flow; pain or burning while urinating; the inability to urinate and constant pain in the lower back, pelvis, or upper thigh, according to the CDC.

While all men are at risk for prostate cancer, African American men have higher rates of getting and dying from the disease than any other racial or ethnic group in the United States. Medical experts and scientists are investigating the reason, but some possible explanations include culture, environment and differences in the biology of the disease in African American men, the CDC says. Experts do not know how to prevent the disease, but some preventative measures include not smoking, following a healthy diet, staying physically active, and routine physicals.