Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is still the main treatment option for locally advanced and metastatic prostate cancer (PCa); however, most patients receiving ADT develop resistance to treatment and relapse, with a more aggressive form of cancer, castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC).
Essa Pharma Inc. has divulged androgen receptor antagonists reported to be useful for the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
A Mayo Clinic study demonstrated how the deficiency of the enzyme CDK12 or its regulation by cyclin K causes the expression of mutations related to resistance to endocrine therapy in prostate cancer. Prostate tumors with CDK12 deficiency are more aggressive, recurrent, produce metastases and are associated with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). CDK12 deficiency impairs DNA repair and increases genomic instability, causing an effect known as homologous recombination deficiency or BRCAness.
