The role of glutamine metabolism in castration-resistant prostate cancer / 亚洲男科学杂志(英文版)

Reprogramming of metabolism is a hallmark of tumors, which has been explored for therapeutic purposes. Prostate cancer (PCa), particularly advanced and therapy-resistant PCa, displays unique metabolic properties. Targeting metabolic vulnerabilities in PCa may benefit patients who have exhausted currently available treatment options and improve clinical outcomes. Among the many nutrients, glutamine has been shown to play a central role in the metabolic reprogramming of advanced PCa. In addition to amino acid metabolism, glutamine is also widely involved in the synthesis of other macromolecules and biomasses. Targeting glutamine metabolic network by maximally inhibiting glutamine utilization in tumor cells may significantly add to treatment options for many patients. This review summarizes the metabolic landscape of PCa, with a particular focus on recent studies of how glutamine metabolism alterations affect therapeutic resistance and disease progression of PCa, and suggests novel therapeutic strategies.

Identifying the role of apolipoprotein A-I in prostate cancer / 亚洲男科学杂志(英文版)

Although localized prostate cancer (PCa) can be cured by prostatectomy and radiotherapy, the development of effective therapeutic approaches for advanced prostate cancer, including castration-resistant PCa (CRPC) and neuroendocrine PCa (NEPC), is lagging far behind. Identifying a novel prognostic and diagnostic biomarker for early diagnosis and intervention is an urgent clinical need. Here, we report that apolipoprotein A-I (ApoA-I), the major component of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), is upregulated in PCa based on both bioinformatics and experimental evidence. The fact that advanced PCa shows strong ApoA-I expression reflects its potential role in driving therapeutic resistance and disease progression by reprogramming the lipid metabolic network of tumor cells. Molecularly, ApoA-I is regulated by MYC, a frequently amplified oncogene in late-stage PCa. Altogether, our findings have revealed a novel indicator to predict prognosis and recurrence, which would benefit patients who are prone to progress to metastasis or even NEPC, which is the lethal subtype of PCa.

Expression and clinical significance of N-Myc and p53 in prostate cancer tissues / 临床与实验病理学杂志

Purpose To detect the expression of N-Myc and p53 in the tissues of prostate cancer (PCa) patients and to explore the relationship between them and their significance.Methods A total of 63 patients with PCa and 50 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) who underwent prostate surgery at the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University were recruited in 2015-2016. The expression of N-Myc and p53 in pathological tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry of MaxVision method. Results The expression of N-Myc and p53 in PCa tissues was increased (P < 0.05). The expression of N-Myc and p53 in PCa tissues was correlated with bone metastases and TNM stage (P < 0.05), but not related to patient age, preoperative PSA level and other factors (P> 0.05). In addition, the expression of p53 was also correlated with Gleason score.Conclusion The high expression of N-Myc and p53 in PCa may involved in the malignant progression and metastasis of prostate cancer, and it is expected to become a new target for detecting PCa metastasis.

Detection of serum and tissue miR-421 in patients with prostate cancer and its diagnostic significance / 临床与实验病理学杂志

Purpose To detect the expression of miR-421 in serum and tissues of prostate cancer ( PCa) and its clinical value inPCa. Methods 62 cases of PCa and 46 cases of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) were enrolled in the Department of Urology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical Universi-ty from December 2015 to December 2016. Another 42 cases of paraffin-embedded sections of PCa and 37 cases of BPH were al-so used in this study. The expression of miR-421 in serum was detected by real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The expression of miR-421 in tissues was detected by in situ hybridization. Results The expression of miR-421 in serum of patients with PCa and BPH was ( 2. 52 ± 1. 70 ) and ( 0. 82 ± 0. 65 ), respectively. Compared with the expression of BPH, the expression of miR- 421 in serum of PCa was increased (P＜0. 05). The expression of miR-421 in serum and tissues of patients with PCa was corre-lated with Gleason score, TNM clinical stage, and bone metasta-ses (P＜0. 05). It was not related to the patient's age, preop-erative PSA level and other factors ( P＞0. 05). Conclusion miR-421 is more abundant in PCa patients than that in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia, and is expected to become a diagnostic marker for PCa.