Divisions of Human Biology and Clinical Research, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Division of Medical Oncology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
J Endocrinol. 2022 Dec 22;256(2). doi: 10.1530/JOE-22-0211. Print 2023 Feb 1.
Neuroendocrine prostate cancer, generally arising late in the disease trajectory, is a heterogeneous subtype that infers a worse prognosis and limited treatment options for patients. Characterization of the complex landscape of this disease subtype and scrutiny of the relationship between tumor cells and cells of the surrounding tumor microenvironment have aided in elucidating some of the mechanisms of neuroendocrine disease biology and have uncovered a multitude of signaling pathways involved in disease transdifferentiation under therapeutic selection. In this review, we discuss current efforts to better understand the heterogeneous landscape of neuroendocrine prostate cancer and summarize research efforts to define the interplay between tumor cells and the microenvironment, with an emphasis on the immune component. Research efforts have uncovered several potential therapeutic approaches that may improve disease outcomes for patients diagnosed with neuroendocrine prostate cancer, including the potential for combination immunotherapies. However, additional research is required to fully address and exploit the contribution of tumor cell and microenvironment heterogeneity in developing effective treatment strategies.
神经内分泌前列腺癌通常在疾病进程后期出现，是一种异质性亚型，预示着患者预后较差，治疗选择有限。对这种疾病亚型的复杂特征进行描述，并仔细研究肿瘤细胞与周围肿瘤微环境细胞之间的关系，有助于阐明神经内分泌疾病生物学的一些机制，并揭示了在治疗选择下疾病转化涉及的多种信号通路。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了目前为更好地理解神经内分泌前列腺癌的异质性景观所做的努力，并总结了定义肿瘤细胞与微环境相互作用的研究工作，重点关注免疫成分。研究工作已经揭示了几种潜在的治疗方法，这些方法可能改善诊断为神经内分泌前列腺癌的患者的疾病结局，包括联合免疫疗法的潜力。然而，需要进一步的研究来充分解决和利用肿瘤细胞和微环境异质性在制定有效治疗策略方面的贡献。
