Celebrating the 80th anniversary of hormone ablation for prostate cancer

Abstract

In this issue of Endocrine-Related Cancer, we are celebrating the 80th anniversary of hormone ablation as treatment for metastatic prostate cancer. Our understanding has evolved from the observation that androgen withdrawal, either surgical or pharmacological, resulted in prostatic atrophy in animal models, to its application in patients, to investigation of the mysterious way in which prostate cancer escapes androgen dependence. We are now in an era of novel AR pathway inhibitors, the combination of androgen ablation with chemotherapy, PARP inhibitors, immunotherapies, guided radiotherapy, and novel drug application based upon genetic testing of individual tumors. In this special issue, we bring together a collection of eight reviews that cover not only the history of 80 years of progress after the initial identification of androgen ablation as an effective treatment of prostate cancer, but subsequent improvements in the understanding of the biology of the disease, development of novel treatment paradigms, resistance to those treatments and disease progression following that resistance.