Dasatinib and docetaxel in advanced prostate cancer

摘要

In The Lancet Oncology, John C Araujo and colleagues report the final results of the phase 3 READY trial of docetaxel with or without the Src family kinase (SFK) inhibitor dasatinib in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer. The study is negative: dasatinib does not improve survival, or any of the typical measures of patient benefit, and now joins the long list of agents that fail to improve survival in men with castration-resistant prostate cancer when combined with docetaxel. These results should compel the medical research community to critically reflect on the current state of affairs of cancer clinical trials. Here we retrace the steps of dasatinib's development for patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer-starting from the READY trial1 and ending with the preclinical models-to seek insights into how to improve the rationale for development of future clinical trials.