Kerr Candace L, Hussain Arif
aDepartment of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology bDepartment of Medicine and Greenebaum Cancer Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine c Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Johns Hopkins University dBaltimore VA Medical Center, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Curr Opin Oncol. 2014 May;26(3):328-33. doi: 10.1097/CCO.0000000000000080.
Significant advances have been made toward identifying prostate cancer stem cells (CSCs). This review will highlight the latest developments in defining this population and the discovery of mechanisms involved in their survival and metastasis.
Several groups have identified master regulators of stem cells in prostate cancer. These include genetic and epigenetic factors known to control pluripotency in embryonic stem cells and in highly metastatic prostate tumors. For instance, tumors of patients with poor prognosis demonstrate elevated levels of the pluripotent markers OCT4 and SOX2 as well as the polycomb complex protein Bmi-1 and enhancer of zeste homolog 2. Cells that are derived from these patient tumors provide an opportunity to expand our current knowledge regarding how these cells survive and the mechanisms that regulate their proliferation.
Understanding the mechanisms of highly invasive and therapy resistant prostate cancer cells resides in understanding the CSCs, which facilitate cancer recurrence. Some of these factors are just emerging and provide a platform for developing targeted drugs for the future treatment of advanced prostate cancer.
在鉴定前列腺癌干细胞（CSCs）方面已取得重大进展。本综述将重点介绍在定义这一细胞群体方面的最新进展以及发现的与它们的存活和转移相关的机制。
多个研究小组已鉴定出前列腺癌中干细胞的主要调节因子。这些包括已知在胚胎干细胞和高转移性前列腺肿瘤中控制多能性的遗传和表观遗传因素。例如，预后较差患者的肿瘤显示多能性标志物OCT4和SOX2以及多梳蛋白复合体蛋白Bmi-1和zeste同源物2增强子的水平升高。源自这些患者肿瘤的细胞为扩展我们目前关于这些细胞如何存活以及调节其增殖的机制的知识提供了机会。
了解高侵袭性和抗治疗性前列腺癌细胞的机制在于了解促进癌症复发的CSCs。其中一些因素刚刚出现，并为开发用于未来治疗晚期前列腺癌的靶向药物提供了一个平台。
