Shaping the Future of Prostate Cancer Care: The Promise and Pitfalls of Gene- and Cell-Based Therapeutics

Prostate Cancer (PCa) affects the population worldwide on a large scale in men. This paper presents a comprehensive overview of the evolving therapeutic landscape for PCa and highlights the promise and challenges of gene- and cell-based strategies. There are various limitations to conventional modalities, such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and surgery; however, the growing impact of molecular precision, immunotherapies, and innovative gene-editing tools, such as the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-associated (Cas) system, minimizes the limitations of these conventional therapies. Comparisons of the current progress in Oncolytic Virus (OV) based therapies, viral and non-viral gene delivery systems, and cell-based immunotherapies including Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cells and Dendritic Cell (DC) therapies demonstrate both their therapeutic potentials and key challenges to their effectiveness that include Tumor Heterogeneity (TH), immune evasion, and the immunosuppressive Tumor Microenvironment (TME). The combination approach integrates the control point blockade, radiosensitizing chemotherapeutics, and biomarker-guided interventions to improve treatment outcomes. It also provides a perspective for analyzing the future roles of Artificial Intelligence (AI), multi-omics integration, and collaborative research networks in shaping standards that are more personalized to enhance care for PCa patients.