ABSTRACT
Prostate cancer cases are dramatically on the rise, primarily because of increased life expectancy. More and more men are living long enough to be affected by this disease, with many dying from prostate cancer metastasis (Pienta et al., 1993). Prostate cancer appears to disproportionately affect African-American men(Pienta et al., 1993). This is likely because these men have an increased susceptibility to androgen receptor (AR) mutations. These mutations are often due to alternative splicing events that lead to constitutive activation of the receptor. Under these conditions the activated AR translocates to the nucleus and activates transcription independently of ligand binding (Harris et al., 2009). In 2012, there were approximately 2.8 million men living with prostate cancer in the United States alone1 and by 2015, approximately 221,000 new cases were detected (www.seer.cancer.gov). Generally, the survival rate of prostate cancer within the fi rst 5 years is very
high (98.9%); during this time the cancer can be contained, preventing spreading/metastasis (www. seer.cancer.gov). However, metastasis cannot be stopped indefi nitely. When it occurs, the survival rate is dramatically reduced (28%) (www.seer.cancer.gov). In 2015, prostate cancer accounted for 13.3% of all the new cancer cases, making it the third most common cancer in the United States (only 400 cases behind lung cancer) (www.seer.cancer.gov). These numbers are quite alarming, considering that prostate cancer only affects men.
