Preface

Prostate cancer is a typical disease of the aging; the incidence of this disease increases dramatically in men over 50-55 years old and is the most common non-cutaneous cancer in US men as well as many other developed countries. It is estimated for prostate cancer to cost $1.5 billion per year in direct medical expenses and an additional $2.5 billion in indirect costs such as loss of wages and productivity. Currently, the mortality rate of prostate cancer is second to that of lung cancer; the majority of cancer death is caused by metastatic disease. Currently, the most effective therapeutic modality for metastatic disease, first developed by Huggins and Hodges in 1941, is to interrupt the positive effect of growth stimulation by androgen. Despite of the initial excellent responsiveness from patients toward hormonal therapy, prostate cancer invariably relapses to a castration resistant state as a terminal disease. Currently there are only few options for treating patients with castration resistant prostate cancer such as chemotherapy or radiation; these regimens only prolong patients' survival. Until now, there is still no curative regimen.