Combination Treatment Options for Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

ABSTRACT Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed solid tumor and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men in the United States. While localized prostate cancer has an excellent prognosis for patients, about one-third of patients are diagnosed with high-risk disease, including metastatic cancer. The 5-year survival rate of metastatic prostate cancer is only about 30%. Due to the androgen dependence of prostate cancer cells, androgen-deprivation therapy is the standard of care for metastatic prostate cancer, which includes both surgical and medical approaches. Nevertheless, androgen-deprivation therapy in general is not curative; patients can develop castration-resistant prostate cancer. Despite current chemotherapies, including the utilization of novel androgen signaling inhibitors and immunotherapy, patients still succumb to the disease. Hence, castration-resistant prostate cancer is a lethal disease. Combination treatment is a strategy for treating this lethal disease and thus will be the focus of discussion in this chapter.