Prostate
adenocarcinoma accounts for more than 20% of deaths among males due to
cancer. It is the fifth-leading
cancer diagnosed in males across the globe. The mortality rate is quite high due to
prostate cancer. Despite the fact that advancements in diagnostics and
therapeutics have been made, there is a lack of effective drugs. Metabolic pathways are altered due to the triggering of
androgen receptor (AR) signaling pathways, and elevated levels of
dihydrotestosterone are produced due to defects in AR signaling that accelerate the growth of
prostate cancer cells. Further, PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathways interact with AR signaling pathway and act as precursors to promote
prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer therapy has been classified into
luminal A,
luminal B, and basal subtypes. Therapeutic drugs inhibiting
dihydrotestosterone and PI3K have shown to give promising results to combat
prostate cancer. Many second-generation
Androgen receptor signaling antagonists are given either as single agent or with the combination of other drugs. In order to develop a cure for metastasized
prostate cancer cells,
Androgen deprivation
therapy (ADT) is applied by using surgical or chemical methods. In many cases,
Prostatectomy or local
radiotherapy are used to control metastasized
prostate cancer. However, it has been observed that after 1.5 years to 2 years of
Prostatectomy or
castration, there is reoccurrence of
prostate cancer and high incidence of
castration resistant
prostate cancer is seen in population undergone ADT. It has been observed that
Androgen derivation
therapy combined with drugs like
abiraterone acetate or
docetaxel improve overall survival rate in metastatic
hormone sensitive
prostate cancer (mHSPC) patients. Scientific investigations have revealed that drugs inhibiting
poly ADP Ribose polymerase (PARP) are showing promising results in clinical trials in the
prostate cancer population with mCRPC and DNA repair abnormalities. Recently,
RISUG adv (reversible inhibition of sperm under guidance) has shown significant results against
prostate cancer cell lines and MTT assay has validated substantial effects of this
drug against PC3 cell lines. Current review paper highlights the advancements in
prostate cancer therapeutics and new
drug molecules against
prostate cancer. It will provide detailed insights on the signaling pathways which need to be targeted to combat metastasized
prostate cancer and
castration resistant
prostate cancer.