A Review on the Role of the Different Types of Immunotoxins in the Treatment of Prostate Cancer

Abstract

Prostate cancer is the second most frequent cancer and the fifth leading cause of cancer death in men. Many patients with metastatic prostate cancer die due to lack of effective treatment. Therefore, new therapeutic strategies are needed. Due to the local expression of prostate cancer antigens, evaluation of their existence in cancerous tissues would probably result in introducing new biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis, as well as treatment of prostate cancer. Hence, specific immunotherapy against the new biomarkers may be a new way to treat and improve the management of prostate cancer. Immunotoxin therapies are novel targeted cancer therapies in which a toxin is a fusion of a monoclonal antibody. Immunotoxins selectively operate against the target cell due to the specific antibody, and kill cells through bacterial or plant toxin. So, immunotoxin is a promising candidate for therapeutic applications in patients with prostate cancer. Considering the importance of immunotoxins in the treatment of patients with prostate cancer, the purpose of this study was to review various immunotoxins used in prostate cancer in previous preclinical studies and finally, we made suggestions for the advancement of future studies.

Keywords

• prostate cancer
• immunotherapy
• immunotoxin
• monoclonal antibodies