Strategies to Improve Treatment - Recurrent Prostate Cancer

This content has been reviewed and approved by

Daniel P. Petrylak, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine
Director, Genitourinary Oncology Program
Columbia University Medical Center

Researchers are currently investigating new treatments for prostate cancer. Participation in trials of these treatments will lead to improved therapies. If you wish to participate in a clinical trial, please talk to your doctor about the potential benefits and side effects of the treatment.

New chemotherapy regimens - Because hormone therapy is not curative and only controls prostate cancer for a certain amount of time, efforts are under way to discover more effective systemic chemotherapies. Recently, several chemotherapeutic drugs have demonstrated the ability to kill prostate cancer cells in patients with recurrent cancer. Developing and exploring single or multi-agent chemotherapy treatments for patients with recurrent prostate cancer is an area of active investigation. Taxotere® (docetaxel), Novantrone® (mitoxantrone), Emcyt®, or Estracyte® (estramustine), and other chemotherapy drugs are being evaluated.

Combination therapy-The growth of prostate cancers can be slowed, but not eliminated, by using drugs that block the effect of hormones on prostate cancer cells. Combining hormonal therapy with chemotherapy treatment appears promising.

Cryosurgery- Cryosurgery is a new treatment procedure that is still in investigative stages for prostate cancer. Cryosurgery kills cancer cells by freezing them with very low temperatures. Hollow steel probes are placed inside and surrounding the cancer. Liquid nitrogen is then circulated through the probes, freezing the cancer cells, and creating a ball of ice that surrounds the cancer. Heated nitrogen is then circulated through the probes. This process is then repeated. A heated probe is placed near the urethra throughout the freezing process to protect it.

Phase I clinical trials - New chemotherapy drugs continue to be developed and evaluated in patients with recurrent cancers in phase I clinical trials. The purpose of phase I trials is to determine the safety and tolerability of a new drug and the best way of administering the drug to patients. Vitamin D analogs, monoterpenes, flavopiroidol, and antiananti-angiogenesis drugs are currently in development for the treatment of prostate cancer.

Gene therapy - Gene therapy is defined as the transfer of new genetic material into a cell for therapeutic benefit. This can be accomplished by replacing or inactivating a faulty gene or replacing or adding a functional gene into a cell to make it operate normally. Gene therapy has been directed towards the control of rapid growth of cancer cells, control of cancer death, or efforts to make the immune system kill cancer cells. AlthoughWhile there are currently no gene therapies approved for the treatment of prostate cancer, this therapeutic technique offers the hope of changing the way cells function and is beginning evaluation in prostate cancer patients.