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[Recent findings on the pathogenesis and therapy of prostatic cancer]
H Schulze1, J T Isaacs, T Senge
1Urologische Klinik, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Marienhospital Herne, Bundesrepublik Deutschland.
Abstract:
Presently, there is no effective therapy for increasing survival of metastatic prostatic cancer. New approaches to this major disease are, therefore, urgently needed. One approach is to study the biology of prostatic carcinogenesis in order to develop a therapeutic modality to prevent the development of clinically manifest prostatic cancer. Based upon international epidemiological data, it should be possible to lower the incidence of clinical prostatic cancer by more than 10-fold among the males of the western industrial states. An alternative approach is to study the tumor biology of prostatic cancer in order to identify new modalities to better treat already established clinical prostatic cancer. Such studies have already demonstrated that individual prostatic cancers are composed of clones of cancer cells which are phenotypically heterogeneous even before therapy is initiated. Due to this tumor cell heterogeneity, the direction of future studies should be towards combining androgen ablation plus chemotherapy early in the disease in order to affect both the androgen-dependent and -independent cancer cells present within individual prostatic cancers.
Insights
Effective therapies for metastatic prostate cancer are lacking. Future research should combine androgen ablation and chemotherapy to combat tumor cell heterogeneity and improve patient survival.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Cancer Biology
- Epidemiology
Context:
- Metastatic prostate cancer lacks effective survival-enhancing therapies, necessitating novel treatment strategies.
- Epidemiological data suggests a potential to significantly reduce prostate cancer incidence through preventative measures.
Purpose:
- To explore new therapeutic modalities for established clinical prostate cancer by studying tumor biology.
- To investigate strategies for preventing the development of clinically manifest prostate cancer.
Summary:
- Prostate cancers exhibit phenotypic heterogeneity, comprising diverse cell clones even before treatment.
- This heterogeneity suggests that combining androgen ablation with chemotherapy early in treatment is a promising approach.
- This combined therapy aims to target both androgen-dependent and androgen-independent cancer cells.
Impact:
- Developing novel therapeutic strategies to improve survival rates for metastatic prostate cancer patients.
- Potentially reducing the incidence of clinical prostate cancer through preventative research.
- Addressing the challenge of tumor cell heterogeneity in prostate cancer treatment.