Immunotherapy for treatment of advanced prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. Up to 30% of affected men will experience disease recurrence at some point, most of whom will be treated with hormone ablative therapy, which is effective for up to 90%. However, the effect is transient with the emergence of the castration-resistant phenotype. While secondary hormonal manipulations may result in temporary inhibition of disease progression, ultimately this is a fatal phenotype. This article looks at the emergence of two therapies that immunise against tissue-specific antigens in metastatic castrationresistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) to enhance survival. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.