Figure 1.

Contemporary prostate cancer states and systemic treatments. (A) Adenocarcinoma arising in the prostate gland is the second most common cancer in males, and can be cured with local intervention if detected when still localized to the organ. Disease is often detected by serum PSA measures which also enable tracking of disease recurrence should initial therapy and subsequent lines of treatment fail. Most commonly, disease control is attempted with hormonal control of the androgen receptor signaling access through (chemical) castration and the use of androgen receptor inhibitors. (B) The last decade has seen the approval of 8 new agents for prostate cancer across different disease states. These approvals result from significant survival benefits for patients at multiple lines of treatment. However, the eventual progression on novel antiandrogens, Radium-223, and chemotherapies leave considerable room for improvement. Despite the number of existing treatment options, efforts with molecularly targeted radiotherapies are under intense, global, evaluation; as well as to use new imaging agents to better guide drug development and more accurately characterize disease.