Method of treating androgen independent prostate cancer

1. A method of treating advanced stage prostate cancer, the method comprising administering a compound to a patient in need thereof, wherein the prostate cancer is hormone refractory and/or metastatic and the compound is selected from the group consisting of:

and the compound is in an amount sufficient to inhibit growth, invasion, and/or metastasis of prostate cancer cells.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the prostate cancer is androgen independent and metastatic prostate cancer and the compound is administered in a pharmaceutical composition comprising a pharmaceutical acceptable carrier.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the compound is in an amount to induce apoptosis of androgen independent cancer cells.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the patient is human.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the compound is in an amount sufficient to inhibit at least 30% of invasive cells.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein at least 60% of the invasive cells are inhibited.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the compound is administered in combination with paclitaxel or paclitaxel derivatives.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the compound is administered in combination with dexamethasone.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the compound is administered in combination with a chemotherapeutic agent, a protein kinase inhibitor, a topoisomerase inhibitor, a mitotic kinesin inhibitor, a histone deacetylase inhibitor, a mTOR inhibitor, a growth factor inhibitor, a growth factor receptor inhibitor, a transcriptional factor inhibitor, an anticancer monoclonal antibody, and/or glucocorticoid hormones.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the chemotherapeutic agent is selected from the group consisting of: an alkylating agents, anti-metabolitic agents, antibiotics, anti-tubule agents, and anti-hormonal agents.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the protein kinase inhibitor inhibits at least one of the following: cyclin-dependent kinases, tyrosine kinases, phosphoinositide 3-kinase PI3K/AKT, protein kinase C, casein kinases, MAP kinases, or Src kinases.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the compound is administered orally.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the compound is administered parenterally.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the compound is administered subcutaneously, intravenously, intramuscularly, or intra-arterially.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the compound is administered to a human patient, in an amount of about 0.5 mg to 5 mg per kilogram of body weight.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein compound is in a dosage unit forms containing between from about 10 mg to about 240 mg of the compound per day.

17. A method of treating advanced stage prostate cancer, the method comprising administering to a patient having hormone refractory and/or metastatic prostate cancer a compound selected from the group consisting of: N-methyl-Δ3,3′-dihydroindole-2,2′ diketone; N-1-(β-D-O-triacetyl-xylopranosyl)-Δ3,3′-dihydroindole-2,2′ diketone; or N-1-(β-D-O-triacetyl-xylopranosyl)-N′-methyl-Δ3,3′-dihydroindole-2,2′ diketone, wherein the compound is in an amount sufficient to inhibit growth, invasion, and/or metastasis of prostate cancer cells.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the compound is N-methyl-Δ3,3′-dihydroindole-2,2′ diketone.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the compound is N-1-(β-D-O-triacetyl-xylopranosyl)-Δ3,3′-dihydroindole-2,2′ diketone.

20. The method of claim 18 , wherein the compound is N-1-(β-D-O-triacetyl-xylopranosyl)-N′-methyl-Δ3,3′-dihydroindole-2,2′ diketone.