Landmarks in hormonal therapy for prostate cancer

Abstract

• It is >70 years since the responsiveness of symptomatic metastatic prostate cancer to androgen deprivation was first demonstrated. • Since those pivotal studies, progress in hormonal therapy of prostate cancer has been marked by several important developments and the availability of various androgen-suppressing agents. • Treatment guidelines have continued to evolve with clinical and therapeutic progress, but androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) remains the standard of care for non-localised prostate cancer. • Because of the long-term experience (>20 years) and wealth of evidence from the large number of clinical trials, the luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonists are currently the main forms of ADT. • Treatment strategies should be adapted to the individual patient in terms of timing, duration and choice of agent. • Prostate cancer remains the most common type of cancer in men and the development of castration-resistant disease seems inevitable, which together drive the clear and continuing need for new, effective agents for ADT to be used alongside the LHRH agonists.