There are currently two medical treatments approved in Canada that offer survival benefits for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer that progresses on or after docetaxel-based chemotherapy, and evidence is accumulating on the efficacy of further interventions in this setting.
The current and emerging strategies are based on a variety of mechanisms (cytotoxicity, hormonal inhibition, radiopharmacy and immunotherapy) and there is nothing to suggest that patients will be unable to benefit from several or even all of these agents when used sequentially. Given the possibility of multiple lines of treatment for patients whose disease progresses on or after docetaxel, the challenge for clinicians will be to determine the optimum treatment pathway for each individual. That challenge is already being faced, albeit on a limited scale, now that both cabazitaxel (chemotherapy) and abiraterone (hormonal agent) are available for use post-docetaxel.
Written by:
Asselah J, Sperlich C. Are you the author?
Medical Oncologist, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, QC.
Reference: Can Urol Assoc J. 2013 Jan;7(2 Suppl 1):S11-7.
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 23682301
