The Future of Systemic Therapies for Localised Prostate Cancer

• Published in: Clinical oncology (Royal College of Radiologists (Great Britain)) Vol. 25; no. 8; pp. 506 - 513
• Main Authors: Eigl, B.J, Gleave, M.E, Chi, K.N
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01-08-2013
• Subjects: Adjuvant therapy; biological therapy; chemotherapy; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant - methods; Clinical Trials as Topic; Combined Modality Therapy - methods; Hematology, Oncology and Palliative Medicine; Humans; localised prostate cancer; Male; neoadjuvant therapy; Neoadjuvant Therapy - methods; Prostatic Neoplasms - drug therapy; Prostatic Neoplasms - radiotherapy; Prostatic Neoplasms - surgery; Prostatic Neoplasms - therapy; Prostatic Neoplasms, Castration-Resistant - drug therapy; Prostatic Neoplasms, Castration-Resistant - radiotherapy; Prostatic Neoplasms, Castration-Resistant - surgery; Prostatic Neoplasms, Castration-Resistant - therapy; Radiology; systemic therapies; systemic therapies; chemotherapy; localised prostate cancer; neoadjuvant therapy; biological therapy; Adjuvant therapy
• ISSN: 0936-6555; 1433-2981
• DOI: 10.1016/j.clon.2013.04.002

Abstract In the last decade, many systemic therapies have become available to improve survival in the setting of castration-resistant prostate cancer. Once effective treatments for advanced and incurable disease have been established, these agents are generally explored in the adjuvant and neoadjuvant settings to evaluate their role in increasing the chance of cure for localised disease. Clinical trials evaluating new therapies in high-risk prostate cancer can broadly be divided into two categories. Phase III (and some phase II) trials generally evaluate treatments that have already been shown to provide clinical benefit in the advanced disease setting; whereas smaller phase I (and some phase II) trials often serve as proof-of-principle assessments in the development of novel agents. The goal of this review is to provide an overview of present and ongoing clinical trials of both of these categories, evaluating the promise of systemic therapies in the setting of high-risk localised prostate cancer. We undertook a search of Ovid Medline, Embase and clinicaltrials.gov for prospective clinical studies assessing systemic therapy for early stage prostate cancer, either before or after definitive local treatment (surgery or radiation) from 2000 onwards. This resulted in 53 studies, of which 29 were deemed worthy of this overview and are presented herein, broadly divided by mechanism of action. Clearly, the arena evaluating the future of systemic therapies for localised prostate cancer will be a very active one.