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Custirsen (OGX-011): Clusterin Inhibitor in Metastatic Prostate Cancer

  • Evolving Therapies (RM Bukowski, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Adenocarcinoma of the prostate is the most common cancer in men in the Western Hemisphere. This diagnosis includes a clinicopathologically diverse collection of disease entities, encompassing a spectrum from early localized disease to advanced-stage castration-sensitive and ultimately metastatic, castration-resistant states. Although early-stage disease is treatable and potentially curable, treatment options for castration-resistant prostate cancer, the common pathway to prostate cancer death, remain limited and palliative in nature. Therapeutic resistance to androgen blockade, cytotoxic chemotherapy, and radiotherapy is underpinned by a number of cellular mechanisms. The upregulation of protective, antiapoptotic chaperone proteins is one of these mechanisms, and is exemplified by the protein clusterin in castration-resistant prostate cancer. Antisense oligonucleotide technology provides the potential to inhibit specific genes in cancer cells and with this the possibility of a vast impact in oncology, but no antisense drugs have been approved for use in cancer patients to date. Custirsen (OGX-011) is a novel antisense oligonucleotide drug which targets clusterin expression, and its application in prostate cancer is reviewed in this article.

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Disclosure

S. Al-Asaaed: none; E. Winquist: honoraria from Sanofi.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Oncology, Western University, London, ON, Canada

    Sohaib Al-Asaaed & Eric Winquist

  2. London Health Sciences Centre, 790 Commissioners Road East, London, ON, N6A 4L6, Canada

    Eric Winquist

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  1. Sohaib Al-Asaaed
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  2. Eric Winquist
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Correspondence to Eric Winquist.

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Al-Asaaed, S., Winquist, E. Custirsen (OGX-011): Clusterin Inhibitor in Metastatic Prostate Cancer. Curr Oncol Rep 15, 113–118 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11912-012-0285-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11912-012-0285-1

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