Management of castrate resistant prostate cancer-recent advances and optimal sequence of treatments

Until 2010, chemotherapy with docetaxel was the only approved agent for treatment of metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Since then, the therapeutic landscape of mCRPC has changed rapidly. Multiple novel agents have received regulatory approval after demonstrating improved overall survival in separate randomized Phase 3 studies. These include immunotherapeutic agent sipuleucel-T, androgen axis inhibitors abiraterone and enzalutamide, and a novel microtubule inhibitor cabazitaxel. More recently, radium-223, a bone-targeting alpha emitting radiopharmaceutical, was reported to improve skeletal related events, as well as overall survival in a Phase 3 randomized study. Additionally, there are several promising agents in the advanced stages of clinical development. Here, we describe the agents recently shown to improve overall survival, and those that have reached the advanced stages of development in Phase 3 clinical trials. We will also propose a strategy for optimal sequencing of these agents in the treatment of mCRPC.