Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 5, 2025

Sequencing Small Non-coding RNA from Formalin-fixed Tissues and Serum-derived Exosomes from Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer Patients
12:13

Sequencing Small Non-coding RNA from Formalin-fixed Tissues and Serum-derived Exosomes from Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer Patients

Published on: November 19, 2019

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It Takes Two to Tango: The Interplay between Prostate Cancer and Its Microenvironment from an Epigenetic Perspective

Anniek Zaalberg1, Elisabeth Pottendorfer1, Wilbert Zwart1,2,3

  • 1Division of Oncogenomics, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Plesmanlaan 121, 1066 CX Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Cancers
|January 23, 2024
PubMed

Insights

Epigenetic alterations drive prostate cancer progression and are reversible targets. Epigenome-targeted therapies offer novel treatment strategies and enhance conventional drug efficacy for castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Epigenetics
  • Cancer Biology

Background:

  • Prostate cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related death in men globally.
  • Epigenetic modifications, alongside genetic alterations, significantly influence prostate cancer initiation and progression.
  • The tumor microenvironment (TME) also exhibits epigenetic changes critical to cancer development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review major epigenetic alterations in prostate cancer and its TME.
  • To discuss the role of these epigenetic changes in prostate tumorigenesis.
  • To explore the therapeutic potential of epigenome-targeted therapies.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of epigenetic alterations in prostate cancer.
  • Analysis of the role of epigenetics in prostate cancer initiation and progression.
  • Discussion of epigenome-targeted therapies and their synergistic effects.

Main Results:

  • Aberrant epigenetic modifications are key drivers of prostate cancer.
  • Epigenetic changes are present in both cancer cells and the TME.
  • Epigenetic modifications are potentially reversible, offering therapeutic opportunities.

Conclusions:

  • Inhibition of aberrant epigenetic modifications presents a promising therapeutic strategy for prostate cancer, particularly castration-resistant types.
  • Epigenome-targeted drugs can enhance the efficacy of conventional treatments by sensitizing tumors.
  • Targeting the epigenome represents an exciting new avenue for prostate cancer treatment.
Keywords:
androgen receptor targeted therapyepigeneticsimmunotherapyprostate cancertumor microenvironment

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