The Prostate Puzzle

Publication
Article
Oncology Live®May 2015
Volume 16
Issue 5

During the past five years, the progress in therapeutic options for men with prostate cancer has been truly remarkable.

OncLive Chairman,

Mike Hennessy

During the past five years, the progress in therapeutic options for men with prostate cancer has been truly remarkable. Since 2010, the FDA has approved five new drugs, including the first therapeutic anticancer vaccine (sipuleucel-T), novel agents that target the androgen receptor (abiraterone and enzalutamide), a new form of chemotherapy (cabazitaxel), and a bone-targeting radiopharmaceutical (radium-223).

Yet prostate cancer remains the most frequently diagnosed type of cancer and the second-leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society.

On OncLive, we offer a spectrum of articles and perspectives on managing patients with this stubborn malignancy.

Our coverage of the 8th Annual Interdisciplinary Prostate Cancer Congress® and Other Genitourinary Malignancies tackles such important questions as patient selection criteria for active surveillance and the optimal timing of immunotherapy. In the OncPathways section, we present the latest developments in ongoing research efforts to overcome resistance to androgen-targeting therapies, which remains problematic even with the new generation of agents.

Finally, our profile of Patrick C. Walsh, MD, a 2014 Giants of Cancer Care award winner, provides perspective on just how much the treatment of men with prostate cancer has advanced. Walsh’s pursuit of a better way to conduct the radical prostatectomy has improved the lives of countless patients.

The picture of prostate cancer care that emerges through the coverage presented throughout this issue is clearly a mosaic of many unanswered questions brightly illuminated with many achievements.

As we seek to piece together this complex puzzle for our readers, we remain appreciative of the efforts that researchers and practicing oncologists have made to improve the lives of their patients.

Thank you for reading.

Related Videos
In this first episode of OncChats: Leveraging Immunotherapy in GI Malignancies, Toufic Kachaamy, MD, of City of Hope, Sunil Sharma, MD, of City of Hope, and Madappa Kundranda, MD, PhD, of Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center, discuss the potential for early detection multiomic assays and the work that still needs to be done to encourage their widespread use.
Ricardo D. Parrondo, MD, hematologist/oncologist, Mayo Clinic
Ilyas Sahin, MD
Raj Singh, MD
Jaime R. Merchán, MD, professor, co-leader, Translational and Clinical Oncology Research Program, director, Phase 1 Clinical Trials Program, Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center
Saad J. Kenderian, MB, CHB
Tycel Phillips, MD
Minesh Mehta, MD