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Prostate news

Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases volume 11, pages 312–315 (2008)Cite this article

PSA is considered the best biomarker for monitoring prostate cancer progression, with levels correlated with clinical stage and histologic grade. Evidence suggests that PSA and related molecules are involved in hormone-related tumorigenesis, including prostate cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, but the pathophysiologic role of PSA in prostate cancer remains unclear.

Niu et al., in Cancer Research, used histologic analyses of the cell proliferation marker Ki67 and the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling assay, to determine that increased tissue PSA levels were associated with higher cell proliferation and lower cell apoptosis index in hormone-refractory tumor samples. The authors then stably transfected PSA cDNA into several prostate cancer cell lines and found that PSA could promote growth of androgen receptor (AR) positive, but not AR negative, cell lines. By the addition of the PSA protease inhibitor α1-antichymotrypsin and the stable transfection of LNCaP cells with cDNA with a mutation the essential protease domain of PSA, Niu et al. next demonstrated that PSA-stimulated cell growth is independent of its protease activity. In addition, in an in vitro colony formation assay and an in vivo xenograft model, the authors found the targeting PSA expression was associated with suppression of prostate cancer growth. These findings suggest that, in addition to being a biomarker, PSA may be a therapeutic target. PSA small interfering RNA or molecules that degrade PSA may be effective treatments for the treatment of prostate cancer.

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Acknowledgements

Research Highlights was sponsored by an educational grant from AstraZeneca.

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Prostate news. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis 11, 312–315 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/pcan.2008.54

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