Overcoming chemotherapy resistance in prostate cancer.

Although treatment for prostate cancer has improved over the past several years, taxanes remain the only form of chemotherapy that improves survival in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). In addition to the promising therapeutic cancer vaccines and newly developed agents targeting androgen receptor signaling, chemotherapy-based treatments will likely continue to play a significant role in patients with mCRPC. Recently published data that showed that a second taxane (cabazitaxel) extends survival after progression on docetaxel was a significant step forward, but also highlighted the need to overcome taxane resistance in prostate cancer. Preliminary evidence suggests that several treatment strategies may improve the activity of taxanes in prostate cancer and perhaps enhance clinical outcomes. ©2011 AACR.