Cheng Yifei, Liu Bingxin, Xin Junyi, Wu Xiaobin, Li Wenchao, Shang Jinwei, Wu Jiajin, Zhang Zhengdong, Xu Bin, Du Mulong, Cheng Gong, Wang Meilin
Jiangsu Cancer Hospital, Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
Department of Environmental Genomics, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Cancer Biomarkers, Prevention and Treatment, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Personalized Medicine, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
Nat Aging. 2025 May;5(5):909-928. doi: 10.1038/s43587-025-00842-0. Epub 2025 Apr 10.
The clinical and pathological outcomes differ between early-onset (diagnosed in men ≤55 years of age) and late-onset prostate cancer, potentially attributed to the changes in hormone levels and immune activities associated with aging. Exploring the heterogeneity therein holds potential for developing age-specific precision interventions. Here, through single-cell and spatial transcriptomic analyses of prostate cancer tissues, we identified that an androgen response-related transcriptional meta-program (AR-MP) might underlie the age-related heterogeneity of tumor cells and microenvironment. APOE tumor-associated macrophages infiltrated AR-MP-activated tumor cells in early-onset prostate cancer, potentially facilitating tumor progression and immunosuppression. By contrast, inflammatory cancer-associated fibroblasts in late-onset prostate cancer correlated with downregulation of AR-MP of tumor cells and increased epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and pre-existing castration resistance, which may also be linked to smoking. This study provides potential insights for tailoring precision treatments by age groups, emphasizing interventions that include targeting AR and tumor-associated macrophages in young patients but anchoring epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and inflammatory cancer-associated fibroblasts in old counterparts.
早发性(诊断时男性年龄≤55岁)和晚发性前列腺癌的临床和病理结果有所不同,这可能归因于与衰老相关的激素水平和免疫活动的变化。探索其中的异质性对于开发针对特定年龄的精准干预措施具有潜力。在这里,通过对前列腺癌组织进行单细胞和空间转录组分析,我们发现一种雄激素反应相关的转录元程序(AR-MP)可能是肿瘤细胞和微环境与年龄相关异质性的基础。在早发性前列腺癌中,载脂蛋白E(APOE)肿瘤相关巨噬细胞浸润AR-MP激活的肿瘤细胞,可能促进肿瘤进展和免疫抑制。相比之下,晚发性前列腺癌中的炎性癌症相关成纤维细胞与肿瘤细胞AR-MP的下调以及上皮-间质转化增加和预先存在的去势抵抗相关,这也可能与吸烟有关。本研究为按年龄组定制精准治疗提供了潜在见解,强调在年轻患者中进行包括靶向AR和肿瘤相关巨噬细胞的干预措施,而在老年患者中则针对上皮-间质转化和炎性癌症相关成纤维细胞。