Clinical trials are research studies that help doctors find out if study drugs (alone or with other treatments) are safe and if they can help prevent, find, or treat diseases or other conditions. There are many investigational clinical trials of metastatic prostate cancer currently being conducted at this time by Merck.
What is Metastatic Prostate Cancer?
Metastatic prostate cancer is cancer that has spread beyond the prostate. Some men may have metastatic disease when first diagnosed with prostate cancer, while others may not have metastatic disease until the prostate cancer comes back after initial treatment. 
Male hormones (such as testosterone) help prostate cancer grow, so men with metastatic prostate cancer usually get hormone therapy as their first treatment. This treatment aims to lower the body’s levels of male hormones to shrink the cancer in the prostate and other areas where it has spread. This usually helps stop the disease from spreading, sometimes for years.
Metastatic prostate cancer that responds to Androgen Deprivation Therapy (ADT) is called Metastatic Hormone-Sensitive Prostate Cancer (mHSPC). Prostate cancer that has progressed after hormone therapy alone is called Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer or mCRPC.
Your treatment options
If you have metastatic prostate cancer, your cancer care team will discuss your treatment options with you and those close to you. Your options will depend on several things:
- The stage of your cancer, which tells you if it has spread and if so, how far
- Your overall health
- Chance of the cancer coming back
- Side effects you might have from the treatment
- What chance the treatment has of reducing or removing the disease
- How long the treatment might help extend your life
- How much the treatment might help reduce your symptoms
If you have mCRPC, your care team may offer you one or more of these options
- Abiraterone acetate and prednisone – lowers hormone production in the body
- Enzalutamide – lowers hormone production in the body
- Radium-223 – for men with cancer that has spread to the bone
- Sipuleucel-T – for men who have few or no symptoms from the cancer
- Chemotherapy – uses medicines that directly kill the cancer cells in your body
- Docetaxel and prednisone
- Cabazitaxel and prednisone – for men with prostate cancer that has worsened while on docetaxel
- Clinical trials
If you have mHSPC, your care team may offer you one or more of these options
- Abiraterone acetate and prednisone – lowers hormone production in the body
- ADT with LHRH agonist or antagonist – stops testosterone production in the body
- Enzalutamide – lowers hormone production in the body
- Orchiectomy – removes one or both testicles to lower hormone production and prevent spread of cancer
- Radiation Therapy – prevent cancer cells from growing further
- Chemotherapy – uses medicines that directly kill the cancer cells in your body
- Docetaxel and prednisone
- Clinical trials
Is a clinical trial right for you?
There are many investigational clinical trials of metastatic prostate cancer being conducted at this time by Merck. These studies are trying to find out if investigational medications are safe and work to slow down or stop the growth of metastatic prostate cancer.
Click one of the links below to learn more about investigational clinical trials of prostate cancer in your area.
- Study of Pembrolizumab Plus Enzalutamide Versus Placebo Plus Enzalutamide in Participants With Metastatic Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer
- Study of Pembrolizumab Plus Docetaxel Versus Placebo Plus Docetaxel in Chemotherapy-naïve Metastatic Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer
- Study of Pembrolizumab Plus Olaparib Versus Abiraterone Acetate or Enzalutamide in Metastatic Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer
- Efficacy and Safety of Pembrolizumab Plus Enzalutamide Plus Androgen Deprivation Therapy Versus Placebo Plus Enzalutamide Plus ADT in Participants With Metastatic Hormone-Sensitive Prostate Cancer
- Study of Pembrolizumab Combination Therapies in Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer
