New way found to treat the deadliest form of prostate cancer
Researchers have discovered a molecular mechanism that drives an aggressive form of prostate cancer that responds poorly to typical treatments. Importantly, they have also found a drug that can potentially treat it. It is currently undergoing clinical trials.Adenocarcinoma, or prostate cancer, is the most common type of prostate cancer. One treatment for advanced-stage cancer is hormone therapy, which blocks the action of androgens in the body. This can prevent prostate cancer cells from growing. However, in some men, the treatment can cause the cancer to turn into a more aggressive form known as neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC), the deadliest.
In the new study, University of Michigan researchers expanded on previous research that identified a key cell growth factor in prostate cancer and discovered the molecular pathway that leads to the development of NEPC. More importantly, they identified a way to treat it.
In a past study, scientists identified that the protein lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) is important for the survival of prostate adenocarcinoma tumors. In the current experiment, biologists wanted to find out if LSD1 is involved in NEPC. It turned out that it does.
They then tested whether blocking LSD1's interactions with other proteins could inhibit its actions. It turned out that allosteric inhibitors blocked protein interactions. It effectively stopped LSD1 and slowed the growth of cancer cells.
For example, LSD1 turned off the TP53 gene, which contains instructions for making the tumor suppressor protein, p53. If LSD1 was inhibited in cancer cell models, p53 was reactivated and tumor growth was suppressed.
The study is published in the journal JCI Insight.