# Abiraterone acetate

Source: https://nuclide.cc/drugs/abiraterone/  
Nuclide record `abiraterone` (Agent). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from Nuclide (nuclide.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Abiraterone is a pill that shuts down testosterone production everywhere, including inside the tumour. Discovered at the Institute of Cancer Research, now generic and used from the first metastatic diagnosis.

## Summary

Abiraterone acetate irreversibly inhibits CYP17A1 (17-alpha-hydroxylase and 17,20-lyase), shutting down androgen synthesis in the adrenal glands and inside the tumour, not just the testes; it is given with prednisone to offset mineralocorticoid excess. Its evidence spans advanced prostate cancer: COU-AA-301 and 302 (mCRPC post- and pre-docetaxel), LATITUDE and STAMPEDE (mHSPC, overall survival benefit; LATITUDE OS 53.3 versus 36.5 months, HR 0.66) and PEACE-1 (triplet with docetaxel). Generic since 2018 to 2019, it is the backbone partner for PARP inhibitors (PROpel, MAGNITUDE), capivasertib (CAPItello-281) and Pluvicto (PSMAddition). Open questions are how to choose between abiraterone and the AR antagonists, and which men need a third drug. Discovered at the Institute of Cancer Research, it is the affordable hormone pill most men with metastatic prostate cancer now start at diagnosis.

## Fields

- Kind: Agent
- Status: approved
- Last checked: 2026-09-06
- Brand: Zytiga (generic)
- Modality: Small-molecule CYP17A1 inhibitor
- Mechanism: Irreversible CYP17A1 (17α-hydroxylase/17,20-lyase) inhibition blocks adrenal and intratumoural androgen synthesis.
- Approvals: US 2011: mCRPC after docetaxel; US 2012: mCRPC pre-chemotherapy; US 2018: High-risk mHSPC (LATITUDE)

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abiraterone_acetate
- FDA label (DailyMed): https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/search.cfm?query=Abiraterone%20acetate

## Connected records

- indications: [Localised prostate cancer, high and very high risk](https://nuclide.cc/indications/prostate-high-risk/), [Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer](https://nuclide.cc/indications/prostate-mcrpc/), [Metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer](https://nuclide.cc/indications/prostate-mhspc/), [Prostate cancer](https://nuclide.cc/indications/prostate/)
- companies: [Johnson & Johnson](https://nuclide.cc/companies/johnson-johnson/)
- institutions: [The Royal Marsden](https://nuclide.cc/institutions/royal-marsden/)
- trials: [A Phase Ib/II Open-label Study of AMO959 With Lutetium (177Lu) Vipivotide Tetraxetan (AAA617) in Combination With ARPI in Adult Participants With PSMA](https://nuclide.cc/trials/nct07226986/), [AZD2265 Compared With Standard of Care in PSMA-positive Metastatic Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer (VECTRA-01)](https://nuclide.cc/trials/nct07611110/), [STAMPEDE](https://nuclide.cc/trials/stampede/), [The Study of 177Lu-TLX591 Plus SOC Versus SOC Alone in Patients With mCRPC (ProstACT Global)](https://nuclide.cc/trials/nct06520345/)
- pathways: [Prostate cancer (KEGG map)](https://nuclide.cc/pathways/prostate-cancer-signalling/)
- terms: [Androgen receptor pathway inhibitor (ARPI)](https://nuclide.cc/terms/arpi/), [mCRPC and mHSPC (castration-resistant vs hormone-sensitive prostate cancer)](https://nuclide.cc/terms/mcrpc-mhspc/)
- collections: [Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF)](https://nuclide.cc/collections/prostate-cancer-foundation/)
- people: [Karim Fizazi](https://nuclide.cc/people/karim-fizazi/)
- pairings: [Radium-223 with abiraterone: a caution, not a combination](https://nuclide.cc/pairings/radium223-abiraterone-caution/)

---
JSON: https://nuclide.cc/api/v1/entities/abiraterone.json