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The expanding role of chemotherapy in prostate cancer


The past

The mainstay of treatment for metastatic prostate cancer is androgen deprivation (ADT). Unfortunately, the response to this therapy is short term with a median duration of 18–24 months. Most men become resistant to hormonal treatment, developing castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) [1].

Until 2004, clinicians were reluctant to treat metastatic CRPC with chemotherapy because historically used agents conferred marginal benefits and/or had substantial toxicities. Mitoxantrone plus daily oral corticosteroids conferred modest palliative benefits without extending survival [1,2]. A review of 26 trials evaluating chemotherapeutic agents was published in 1993 and revealed only an overall response rate of 8.7% and median survival of 6–10 months, with the combination of vinblastine and estramustine appearing somewhat more active [3].

Click here to view the full article in Future Oncology.