Role of androgen receptor in prostate cancer

The growth of prostate cancer is sensitive to androgen, and hormonal therapy has been used for treatment of ad-vanced cancer. About 80% of prostate cancers initially respond to hormonal therapy, howerver, more than half of the re-sponders gradually become resistant to this therapy. Changes in tumors from an androgen-responsive to an androgen-unre-sponsive state have been widely discussed. Since androgen action is mediated by androgen receptor (AR), abnormalitiesof AR is believed to play an important role of the loss of androgen responsiveness in prostate cancer. This article focusedon the role of AR in the progression of prostate cancer. (Asian J Androl 1999 Sep; 1: 81-85)