The Evolving Systemic Treatment Landscape for Patients with Advanced Prostate Cancer

Drugs. 2019 Mar;79(4):381-400. doi: 10.1007/s40265-019-1060-5.

Abstract

Prostate cancer (PC) is a major health issue in developed countries, with, on the one hand, men suffering from sequelae related to unnecessary treatment of non-lethal PC, and, on the other hand, still dying because of advanced PC that progresses to castration-resistant disease. Systemic treatment is the mainstay of therapy of castration-resistant PC (CRPC). To date, a multitude of systemic agents have been tested and many of these have failed to provide a clinically meaningful benefit in CRPC, while others have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and/or the European Medicines Agency, including antiandrogen hormonal drugs (abiraterone, enzalutamide, apalutamide), chemotherapy (docetaxel and cabazitaxel), immunotherapy (Sipuleucel-T), and radiopharmaceutical (Radium-223) agents. In this review, systemic treatments regarded as most likely to have an impact in clinical practice are presented and discussed. In addition to the pivotal clinical studies, selected retrospective and non-randomized clinical trials are also discussed if deemed to have an impact on clinical practice or future research. A comprehensive appraisal of the expanding landscape of systemic therapies for advanced PC is provided from an expert perspective, with a focus on novel classification and diagnostic tools that have been paving the way for the development of precision medicine in PC.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Androgen Antagonists / therapeutic use
  • Androstenes / therapeutic use
  • Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal / therapeutic use
  • Benzamides
  • Clinical Trials as Topic
  • Docetaxel / therapeutic use
  • Humans
  • Immunotherapy / methods
  • Male
  • Molecular Targeted Therapy
  • Nitriles
  • Phenylthiohydantoin / analogs & derivatives
  • Phenylthiohydantoin / therapeutic use
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Radiopharmaceuticals / therapeutic use
  • Radium / therapeutic use
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Taxoids / therapeutic use
  • Thiohydantoins / therapeutic use
  • Tissue Extracts / therapeutic use

Substances

  • Androgen Antagonists
  • Androstenes
  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal
  • Benzamides
  • Nitriles
  • Radiopharmaceuticals
  • Taxoids
  • Thiohydantoins
  • Tissue Extracts
  • apalutamide
  • Docetaxel
  • Phenylthiohydantoin
  • cabazitaxel
  • Radium-223
  • sipuleucel-T
  • enzalutamide
  • abiraterone
  • Radium