ABSTRACT
Advanced hormone-resistant prostate cancer (HRPC) remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality, and its treatment has proven to be particularly challenging. Although mitoxantrone in combination with steroids was shown to provide palliation in metastatic HRPC without affecting survival, recently two large randomized trials have demonstrated that taxane-based chemotherapy improves survival when compared to mitoxantrone (1-4). However, progress has been incremental, with overall survival remaining less than two years in this group of patients. For patients not responding to taxanes, or those failing initial chemotherapy, the prognosis is even more dismal. Thus, there is an urgent need to identify new agents and treatment strategies in metastatic HRPC. Among the novel treatments for HRPC that are currently being investigated are the cytotoxic agents epothilones and satraplatin, which are the subject of this chapter.
