Dr. McKay Discusses Dutasteride in Prostate Cancer

Rana R. McKay, MD, a clinical oncology fellow at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, explains the mechanism of action of dutasteride and its role in a phase II trial in which abiraterone acetate was combined with dutasteride in men with metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).

McKay says dutasteride is a dual 5-α reductase inhibitor that prevents the conversion of testosterone to DHT, a more potent androgen.

Dutasteride is classically used for people with benign prostatic hypertrophy but was used in this phase II trial to try to decrease levels of DHT.