Executive SummaryThe lifetime risk for a 50-year-old man to develop clinical prostate cancer is 9.5%. Symptoms include difficulty in urination, weak or interrupted flow, frequent urination, pain or burning during urination, continuous pain in the lower back or upper thighs. Progression is unpredictable. It progresses very slowly in some men, who do well for years without any treatment. In others, the disease is highly invasive and leads to early death.Progress in prostate cancer research has been slow, partially due to the lack of suitable animal models. Compared with all other cancers, the incidence of prostate carcinoma increases most rapidly with age. Despite the increasing prevalence of the disease, the underlying mechanisms of prostate cancer growth are basically unknown. Recent molecular studies have suggested roles for activated ras oncogenes in prostate carcinogenesis.Hormonal therapy is the first-line treatment for metastatic prostate cancer, and a number of ablative therapies have been developed based upon blocking the actions of androgens.Signal transduction and apoptosis agonists remain the areas of most intense development effort, although an approved product is still off in the future. Hormone therapy, although there are approved products in the market is still a very active area of development.Surgery and radiation therapy will continue to play major roles in the treatment of prostate cancer at least through 2010. Hormone therapies (antiandrogens, LHRH/GnRH modulators) are expected to remain the mainstay for prostate cancer therapy throughout the forecast horizon. No substantial change in the management of this condition is expected to occur in the near term. Toward the middle of the decade, signal transduction and angiogenesis inhibitors are expected to also play a moderate role in treatment, especially in hormone refractory cases of prostate cancer.