PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - NAOHIRO FUJIMOTO AU - YUTO TSUBONUMA AU - YUJIRO NAGATA AU - AKINORI MINATO AU - IKKO TOMISAKI AU - KENICHI HARADA AU - HIROSHI MIYAMOTO TI - Second-Line Systemic Therapy for Highly Aggressive Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer AID - 10.21873/anticanres.16571 DP - 2023 Sep 01 TA - Anticancer Research PG - 3841--3847 VI - 43 IP - 9 4099 - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/43/9/3841.short 4100 - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/43/9/3841.full SO - Anticancer Res2023 Sep 01; 43 AB - Neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) is generally an aggressive form of prostate cancer that can arise de novo or develop as a castration-resistant mechanism. While first-line platinum-based chemotherapy is effective against NEPC, its limited response duration and subsequent treatments pose significant clinical challenges. Standard second-line treatments have not been established due to the limited data available. The aim of this review was to reveal the current status of second-line therapy for NEPC. A literature search was conducted using PubMed and Web of Science and a total of 13 articles were included in this review. Prospective and retrospective studies demonstrated that treatment outcome of second-line therapy using platinum with etoposide or docetaxel was unfavorable and progression-free survival was 3 months or shorter. Amrubicin and irinotecan were also frequently used as second-line therapy, however, efficacy of these agents was modest and response duration was less than 6 months. NEPC patients with homologous recombination repair gene alterations may benefit from treatment with poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors. Ongoing clinical studies investigate various agents, including immune checkpoint inhibitors, molecularly targeted agents, and PARP inhibitors. With the increasing recognition and active biopsy of NEPC lesions, the number of NEPC patients is anticipated to rise. Accumulating more knowledge and experience is crucial in developing novel treatment strategies to combat this disease.