Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, United States; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Massy Cancer Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United States.
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, United States.
Adv Cancer Res. 2024;161:403-429. doi: 10.1016/bs.acr.2024.04.006. Epub 2024 May 31.
Worldwide, prostate cancer (PCa) remains a leading cause of death in men. Histologically, the majority of PCa cases are classified as adenocarcinomas, which are mainly composed of androgen receptor-positive luminal cells. PCa is initially driven by the androgen receptor axis, where androgen-mediated activation of the receptor is one of the primary culprits for disease progression. Therefore, in advanced stage PCa, patients are generally treated with androgen deprivation therapies alone or in combination with androgen receptor pathway inhibitors. However, after an initial decrease, the cancer recurs for majority patients. At this stage, cancer is known as castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Majority of CRPC tumors still depend on androgen receptor axis for its progression to metastasis. However, in around 20-30% of cases, CRPC progresses via an androgen receptor-independent pathway and is often presented as neuroendocrine cancer (NE). This NE phenotype is highly aggressive with poor overall survival as compared to CRPC adenocarcinoma. NE cancers are resistant to standard taxane chemotherapies, which are often used to treat metastatic disease. Pathologically and morphologically, NE cancers are highly diverse and often co-exist with adenocarcinoma. Due to the lack of proper biomarkers, it is often difficult to make an early diagnosis of this lethal disease. Moreover, increased tumor heterogeneity and admixtures of adeno and NE subtypes in the same tumor make early detection of NE tumors very difficult. With the advancement of our knowledge and sequencing technology, we are now able to better understand the molecular mediators of this transformation pathway. This current study will give an update on how various molecular regulators are involved in these lineage transformation processes and what challenges we are still facing to detect and treat this cancer.
在全球范围内,前列腺癌(PCa)仍然是男性死亡的主要原因。从组织学上看,大多数 PCa 病例被归类为腺癌,主要由雄激素受体阳性腔细胞组成。PCa 最初由雄激素受体轴驱动,其中雄激素介导的受体激活是疾病进展的主要罪魁祸首之一。因此,在晚期 PCa 中,患者通常单独接受雄激素剥夺疗法或联合雄激素受体通路抑制剂治疗。然而,在最初的下降之后,大多数患者的癌症会复发。在这个阶段,癌症被称为去势抵抗性前列腺癌(CRPC)。大多数 CRPC 肿瘤仍然依赖雄激素受体轴来促进其转移。然而,在大约 20-30%的病例中,CRPC 通过雄激素受体非依赖性途径进展,通常表现为神经内分泌癌(NE)。与 CRPC 腺癌相比,这种 NE 表型具有高度侵袭性和较差的总体生存率。NE 癌症对标准紫杉烷化疗药物具有耐药性,这些药物常用于治疗转移性疾病。从病理和形态学上看,NE 癌症具有高度多样性,并且经常与腺癌共存。由于缺乏适当的生物标志物,因此通常难以早期诊断这种致命疾病。此外,肿瘤异质性增加以及同一肿瘤中腺和 NE 亚型的混合物使得早期检测 NE 肿瘤非常困难。随着我们知识和测序技术的进步,我们现在能够更好地理解这种转化途径的分子介质。本研究将更新各种分子调节剂如何参与这些谱系转化过程,以及我们仍面临哪些挑战来检测和治疗这种癌症。