Androgen-independent prostate cancer.

Androgen-independent or hormone-refractory prostate cancer (AIPC) is prostate cancer that progresses after primary androgen-ablation therapy--either orchiectomy or a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonist, followed by addition and subsequent withdrawal of an antiandrogen. In the majority of patients, AIPC appears after a median time of 18 months of hormone deprivation. Patients with AIPC have a median survival between 10 and 20 months and the prognosis can be defined by using nomograms. Standard treatment is continued castration by LHRH agonists in combination with docetaxel-containing chemotherapy. Other treatment options to palliate symptoms are hormones, other chemotherapeutic agents, radioisotopes or radiotherapy and bisphosphonates. New targeted drugs and vaccination strategies are evaluated in the treatment of AIPC.