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UC Davis researchers identify a cellular pathway that makes prostate cancer fatal
November 28, 2007Discovery provides new treatment target for reducing cancer deaths
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) - Expanding evidence that tiny strands of RNA - called microRNAs - play big roles in the progress of some cancers, UC Davis researchers have identified one that helps jump start prostate cancer cell growth midway through the disease process, eventually causing it to become fatal. The discovery is an important link to finding new treatments targeting this cellular function and reducing cancer deaths among American men.
"A number of cancer researchers are interested in microRNAs and how they are involved in diseases like leukemia," said Ralph deVere White, director of the UC Davis Cancer Center, professor of urology and senior author on the study. "But this is the first research to specifically look at the functional effects of microRNAs on the progression of prostate cancer."
Relatively new discoveries in genetic research, microRNAs are small, single strands of RNA that regulate gene expression processes between larger strands of RNA. Working with 19 samples from the cancer center's repository of prostate cancer cells, deVere White and his team used high-resolution analysis techniques to identify microRNAs that were differentially expressed. Of five that were distinct, one - miR-125b - caught their attention because of its presence at high levels in both androgen-dependent and androgen-independent prostate cancer cells. Androgens, such as testosterone, are known to promote tumor growth. While androgen suppression treatments slow the progress of prostate cancer, they do not cure it.
"One of the most confounding things about prostate cancer is that after a period of success with androgen suppression therapy, the cancer starts to thrive again," deVere White explained. "That's when the disease becomes fatal. This particular microRNA supports the ability of prostate cancer cells to exist and grow in its androgen-independent state. And we currently have no effective treatments for the androgen-independent state of the disease."
Now having identified a cellular link between the two phases of prostate cancer, deVere White and colleagues are hopeful that miR-125b screening will at some point become a standard diagnostic tool and that genetic and chemotherapy treatments can be developed that remove this essential survival mechanism for cancer cells. Before this can happen, the team needs to first find out if a microRNA "knockout" can be safely accomplished.
"We simply don't know yet all that microRNAs do for us," said deVere White. "We will use animal models to see if we can reduce or remove one of more of them without interfering with other essential molecular functions."
Another important next step is to identify the full range of microRNAs involved in prostate cancer.
"There are believed to be thousands of microRNAs, and we have only identified a handful that is important to prostate cancer," said Xu-Bao Shi, a project scientist with the UC Davis Department of Urology and lead author on the study. "We must next identify if others are involved along with their regulating patterns and mechanisms in order to gain a more comprehensive picture of how they contribute to the onset and progression of the disease. Our study definitely opens up a whole new avenue in prostate cancer research."
University of California - Davis - Health System
Relatively new discoveries in genetic research, microRNAs are small, single strands of RNA that regulate gene expression processes between larger strands of RNA. Working with 19 samples from the cancer center's repository of prostate cancer cells, deVere White and his team used high-resolution analysis techniques to identify microRNAs that were differentially expressed. Of five that were distinct, one - miR-125b - caught their attention because of its presence at high levels in both androgen-dependent and androgen-independent prostate cancer cells. Androgens, such as testosterone, are known to promote tumor growth. While androgen suppression treatments slow the progress of prostate cancer, they do not cure it.
"One of the most confounding things about prostate cancer is that after a period of success with androgen suppression therapy, the cancer starts to thrive again," deVere White explained. "That's when the disease becomes fatal. This particular microRNA supports the ability of prostate cancer cells to exist and grow in its androgen-independent state. And we currently have no effective treatments for the androgen-independent state of the disease."
Now having identified a cellular link between the two phases of prostate cancer, deVere White and colleagues are hopeful that miR-125b screening will at some point become a standard diagnostic tool and that genetic and chemotherapy treatments can be developed that remove this essential survival mechanism for cancer cells. Before this can happen, the team needs to first find out if a microRNA "knockout" can be safely accomplished.
"We simply don't know yet all that microRNAs do for us," said deVere White. "We will use animal models to see if we can reduce or remove one of more of them without interfering with other essential molecular functions."
Another important next step is to identify the full range of microRNAs involved in prostate cancer.
"There are believed to be thousands of microRNAs, and we have only identified a handful that is important to prostate cancer," said Xu-Bao Shi, a project scientist with the UC Davis Department of Urology and lead author on the study. "We must next identify if others are involved along with their regulating patterns and mechanisms in order to gain a more comprehensive picture of how they contribute to the onset and progression of the disease. Our study definitely opens up a whole new avenue in prostate cancer research."
University of California - Davis - Health System
Prostate Cancer Current Events and Prostate Cancer News RSSDoes prostate-specific antigen velocity help in early detection prostate cancer?
The November issue of European Urology, the official journal of the European Association of Urology, features an article focussing on prostate specific antigen (PSA) velocity and early cancer detection. It has been suggested that changes in PSA over time aid prostate cancer detection.
New Synthetic Molecules Trigger Immune Response to HIV and Prostate Cancer
Researchers at Yale University have developed synthetic molecules capable of enhancing the body's immune response to HIV and HIV-infected cells, as well as to prostate cancer cells. Their findings, published online in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, could lead to novel therapeutic approaches for these diseases.
Chemo-radiation before prostate removal may prevent cancer recurrence
Researchers in the Oregon Health & Science University Knight Cancer Institute and the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center have found a combination of radiation therapy and chemotherapy given before prostate removal is safe and may have the potential to reduce cancer recurrence and improve patient survival.
Blood vessels might predict prostate cancer behavior
A diagnosis of prostate cancer raises the question for patients and their physicians as to how the tumor will behave. Will it grow quickly and aggressively and require continuous treatment, or slowly, allowing therapy and its risks to be safely delayed?
Short-term hormone therapy and intermediate dose radiation increases survivial for early stage prostate cancer
Short-term hormone therapy given prior to and during intermediate dose radiation treatment for men with early stage prostate cancer increases their chance of living longer, compared to those who receive the same radiation alone.
Task force develops new radiation guidelines for brachytherapy
Radiation dose delivered to the prostate and nearby organs in every brachytherapy procedure should be carefully analyzed using post-implant CT or MRI and uniformly documented in every patient.
1 disease, not 1 demographic
The Asian continent has nearly four billion people living in 47 different countries, and each of these groups has their own unique set of health issues. But when they come to the United States, they're often lumped into one large demographic: "Asian/Pacific Islander."
Cancer survivors may not be getting the help they need to stop smoking
More than a quarter of cancer survivors who still smoke have not been advised to quit smoking by their health care providers in the last year, according to a study published by researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center in the current issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
Experts issue call to reconsider screening for breast cancer and prostate cancer
Twenty years of screening for breast and prostate cancer - the most diagnosed cancer for women and men - have not brought the anticipated decline in deaths from these diseases, argue experts from the University of California, San Francisco and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in an opinion piece published in the "Journal of the American Medical Association."
Detecting the undetectable in prostate cancer screening
A team of Northwestern University researchers, using an extremely sensitive tool based on nanotechnology, has detected previously undetectable levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in patients who have undergone radical prostatectomy.
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