New strategies for the treatment of hormone-independent prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of death in men in the United States. Androgen ablation therapy is useful and results in stabilization or regression of the disease in approximately 80% of patients, but it invariably fails to prevent progressive disease. Prostate cancer that progresses in the presence of androgen blockade is defined as hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC). The events that characterize the progression from the androgen-dependent to the androgen-independent state remain unclear. No effective "standard" chemotherapy exists for this patient population, in which median survival is 6 to 9 months. This article summarizes recent advances that have implications for the treatment and evaluation of hormone-independent prostate cancer.
Bogdanos
I
I
Department of Urology, Metaxa Cancer Hospital, Piraeus, Greece.
Karamanolakis
D
D
Milathianakis
C
C
Tsintavis
A
A