[Criteria and endpoints in advanced prostate cancer]

In castrate-refractory prostate cancers, main efficacy endpoints are progression free survival for phase-II trials and overall survival for phase-III trials. However, various progression criteria have been used, and overall survival may become more difficult to impact due to the recent approval of more effective drugs. PSA is useful in clinical practice, provided it is interpreted with caution, but cannot be used as a surrogate endpoint in clinical trials. Finally, circulating tumor cells represent a promising area of development.