Breast cancer clinical and translational research: analogies and implications for prostate cancer

Breast and prostate cancer, respectively, are the most common cancers in women and in men in the United States. The management of locally advanced prostate cancer involves a multidisciplinary approach, bearing similarity to the therapeutic approach to breast cancer. Better understanding of the molecular biology of these cancers and the identification of the role played by the cancer stem cells and the tumor microenvironment may translate into better clinical decision making regarding risk classification and treatment allocation. A systematic assessment is presented of the many parallel evolutions in defining and treating high-risk breast cancer as they pertain to prostate cancer.