Investigational Therapies for Prostate Cancer

Universal agreement has not been reached as to the best treatment for cancer of the prostate (CaP) at any stage. Radical prostatectomy, external-beam radiation therapy, and brachytherapy are potentially curative in patients with clinically localized disease. Despite the widespread use of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in early detection and screening, significant numbers of cases are not diagnosed until the disease has advanced or metastasized beyond the reach of these local treatment modalities. Hormonal therapy and chemotherapy are the only other systemic treatments available at the present time. Because of the limitations of current local and systemic therapies for prostate cancer, there is a continued interest in the development of new treatment modalities. This chapter discusses some of the therapies and their principles that are being investigated in CaP.