Protocols for the Study of Taxanes Chemosensitivity in Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is major cause of cancer-related death among men in Western countries. Locally advanced prostate cancers are treated with castration therapy, which is initially effective, but after months the disease progresses to a hormone-refractory state whose treatment is chemotherapy based on taxanes. Although taxanes improve the survival of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancers, these patients often develop chemotherapy resistance, and new therapeutic strategies are necessary. Taxanes exert their action through interaction with β-tubulin which triggers cell cycle arrest in mitosis and the subsequent induction of the intrinsic apoptotic pathway. Since taxanes are widely used for the treatment of advanced prostate cancers, we present in this chapter protocols that allow the study of the prostate cancer sensitivity as well as determine the mechanisms of resistance to these chemotherapeutic agents.