Prostate cancer's nerves

In prostate cancer, a handful of companies are racing to develop third-generation antiandrogen therapeutics that overcome resistance mechanisms that render first- and second-generation molecules ineffective.^1,2 The problem is that any direct attack on the tumor is likely to lead to resistance mutations in a short stretch of time.

Now, a team from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University has taken a new approach for treating the disease. The group has evidence that blocking nerve signaling pathways with marketed b-adrenergic receptor and muscarinic receptor antagonists can inhibit prostate tumor initiation and metastasis.³ The team plans to study the drugs in the new indication, although it is not yet clear whether the approach can treat established disease...