Advanced prostate cancer: the future.

The demonstration of a survival benefit with docetaxel for the treatment of metastatic hormone refractory prostate cancer (HRPC) is an important step forward in advancing treatment options for advanced prostate cancer. While docetaxel-based therapy has demonstrated improvement in symptomatic and quality-of-life endpoints, certainly there is a pressing need for improvement in outcomes. A number of novel agents are in basic and clinical development for advanced prostate cancer, some of which are specific to mechanisms that may be important in the development and spread of prostate cancer. Novel approaches including novel cytotoxics, immunotherapy, PSMA targeted monoclonal antibodies are among the broad categories that will be discussed in this brief review.