Researchers have identified a promising strategy to make certain targeted cancer therapies more effective against one of the deadliest forms of prostate cancer.

Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer no longer responds to hormone therapy; it remains incurable despite advances in treatment. Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) have transformed care for several cancers but shown only modest and short-lived benefits in prostate cancer treatment. New research shows that combining ADCs with a drug that blocks a cancer cell survival protein called BCL-XL makes prostate cancer cells more susceptible to treatment. The combination triggered greater cancer cell death and slowed tumor growth compared with either therapy alone.

ADCs are designed to deliver potent chemotherapy directly to cancer cells while limiting damage to healthy tissue. They have become standard treatments for breast, bladder, and blood cancers. The research team wanted to improve existing ADCs to foster a more reliable response for prostate cancers.

Findings from the researchers suggested multiple ADCs could potentially target the same tumor simultaneously, since three proteins were frequently found on the same cancer cells. One combination of drugs consistently outperformed others: the one paired with the compound that blocks BCL-XL. The combination triggered substantially more cell death than either treatment alone.