New discoveries in prostate cancer biology and treatment. 5-9 December 2001, Naples, Florida, USA

Androgen independence and bone metastasis are lethal complications in patients with advanced prostate cancer. Presently, there is no cure for patients with androgen-independent prostate cancer. In order to develop more effective therapies for this disease, the molecular events involved in the development of androgen independence and bone metastasis must be elucidated and then targeted by therapeutic agents. Several studies presented at a recent conference on prostate cancer sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) provided evidence that prostate cancer metastasis to bone is mediated by the prostate cancer cell expression of molecules that allow the cells to invade, grow in and stimulate cells in the bone microenvironment resulting in an osteoblastic reaction. Androgen independence was reportedly mediated by an increased expression of survival genes following androgen ablation therapies and several molecular mechanisms involved in genetic instability. Treatment strategies are being designed to target some of the molecular events involved in androgen independence and bone metastasis. Targeting these molecular events with combinational therapies will hopefully delay the progression to androgen independence in patients with early stage disease, suppress the growth of androgen-independent cells in patients with advanced disease and enhance the chemosensitivity of androgen-independent cells.