Jevtana, Sanofi-Aventis' new chemotherapy treatment, has been granted approval both in Europe and the US.

Second-line prostate cancer can be easily treated with Jevtana or cabazitaxel if combined with the steroid prednisone and has got approved from the European Commission.

The combination was seen to benefit people who suffer from metastatic hormone-refractory prostate cancer in the phase III TROPIC clinical study.

Debasish Roychowdhury, head of Sanofi's global oncology division said, "Jevtana in combination with prednisone or prednisolone reduced the risk of death by nearly one third and extended progression-free survival."

The survival was not more than about 15 months among patients who had earlier got a docetaxel-containing treatment regimen treatment and now were receiving the combination therapy.

The survival was about 12.7 months in people who received mitoxantrone plus prednisone.

Every year there are about 300,000 new cases of prostate cancer that take place in the European Union. It has also been considered as the sixth biggest cancer killer in men and also the third most common cancer.

It was added by Roychowdhury that people whose disease still exist after the initial treatment are the ones who can be hopeful about getting treated with the available treatment options.