Targeting the N-terminal domain of the androgen receptor: The effective approach in therapy of CRPC

The androgen receptor (AR) is dominant in prostate cancer (PCa) pathology. Current therapeutic agents for advanced PCa include androgen synthesis inhibitors and AR antagonists that bind to the hormone binding pocket (HBP) at the ligand binding domain (LBD). However, AR amplification, AR splice variants (AR-Vs) expression, and intra-tumoral de novo synthesis of androgens result in the reactivation of AR signalling. The AR N-terminal domain (NTD) plays an essential role in AR transcriptional activity. The AR inhibitor targeting NTD could potentially block the activation of both full-length AR and AR-Vs, thus overcoming major resistance mechanisms to current treatments. This review discusses the progress of research in various NTD inhibitors and provides new insight into the development of AR-NTD inhibitors.