Introduction

Abstract

This comprehensive reference expounds the current state of hormone therapy and castration resistance of prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed malignancy in men of Western countries. Previously, its incidence in Northeast Asia including Japan had been considered to be relatively low, but it has been dramatically increasing in recent years. Based on the Cancer Information Service of the National Cancer Center, there were 98,400 estimated new cases of prostate cancer in 2015, making the disease the leading cancer in Japanese men. Although most of the new cases are diagnosed in early stages, a significant proportion of patients receive hormone therapy for metastatic disease or for relapse after local treatment. Thus the situation has gradually changed toward earlier and longer use of hormone therapy. The malignancy will finally form castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) despite the lack of testicular androgen.