FOCUSED ISSUE OF THIS MONTH

The management of advanced prostate cancer has evolved rapidly. Androgen deprivation therapy, through surgical or medical castration, is the cornerstone of first-line therapy for hormone-naïve metastatic prostate cancer. Recently reported results of clinical trials have given answers to questions regarding the best therapeutic agents and strategies, and these have broadened the scope of evidence-based therapy in this field. Although hormone therapy is very effective, the majority of patients eventually develop resistance to hormonal manipulation, leading to so-called castration-resistant prostate cancer. For castration-resistant prostate cancer, docetaxel-based chemotherapy had been the only approved agent to show a survival benefit for several years. However, over the last five years, significant advances in the field have led to the approval of several new agents with different mechanisms of action, such as the new androgen pathway inhibitors abiraterone and enzalutamide, a new cytotoxic agent, cabazitaxel, and new bone-seeking agents such as radium-223, which have all been associated with improved quality of life and pain palliation and an increase in survival. Herein, recent developments in hormone therapy and chemotherapy for advanced prostate cancer are reviewed and some of the trials with important results are summarized. As treatment options have expanded and developed rapidly, the selection of the most appropriate agent and administration method through multidisciplinary management is much more important than simply giving newly approved agents to maximize the clinical outcome for patients with advanced, especially castration-resistant, prostate cancer