Abiraterone for the Treatment of Advanced Prostate Cancer

Until recently, treatment options for castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) were limited to only the chemotherapeutic agent docetaxel which demonstrated a survival advantage over palliative chemotherapy. Abiraterone acetate (AA) is an orally available, potent irreversible inhibitor of the adrenal microsomal enzyme cytochrome P450-17 (CYP17). In a large phase III study of AA in docetaxel-pretreated patients, AA demonstrated excellent tolerance and a 4-month survival advantage over placebo, leading to the approval of AA for docetaxel-pretreated patients by the FDA in 2011. More recently, phase III data in docetaxel-naïve patients have become available, showing clear clinical benefits in this population as well, and it is likely that the label for AA will soon be expanded to include men with CRPC who have not yet received chemotherapy. This article summarizes clinical studies of AA in CRPC patients and discusses the emerging treatment paradigm in this rapidly evolving area.