Prognostic value of PSA kinetics in locally advanced prostate cancer treated by maximal androgen blockade combined with brachytherapy / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the effect of post-treatment PSA kinetics on the prognosis of prostate cancer (PCa).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We retrospectively reviewed the clinical data of 114 cases of locally advanced PCa treated by maximal androgen blockade (MAB) combined with brachytherapy, and analyzed the association of the changes in PSA kinetics with the prognosis of the patients.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The median survival time of the patients was 81 (15 - 144) months, with 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rates of 91. 23%, 78.07% and 68.42% , respectively. Univariate analysis indicated that the baseline PSA level, PSA nadir, the time of PSA decreasing to nadir, PSA doubling time, and the extent of PSA declining were all predictive factors for the survival time of the PCa patients. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that PSA nadir, the time of PSA decreasing to nadir, and the extent of PSA declining were three independent prognostic factors, which prolonged the long-term survival of the patients by 1.7, 3.2 and 6.8 times, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>For locally advanced PCa treated by MAB combined with brachytherapy, PSA nadir <1 micro g/L, the time to nadir <3 months, and the extent of PSA declining >96% are independent prognostic factors.</p>

Sorting and identification of cancer stem cells in human prostate cancer cell lines / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To sort and identify side population (SP) cancer stem cells (CSC) in human prostate cancer (PCa) cell lines.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Stem-like cells were isolated from five PCa cell lines Du145, IA8, LNCaP, TSU-Pr and PC-3 using FACS based on CD133+ CD44+ immunophenotype and SP in Hoechst staining. The in vitro growth pattern and tumorigenicity of SP stem cells were verified by soft agar colony-formation trial. LNCaP/SP cells were selected for further identification of stem cell properties using immunostaining, proliferation and invasion assay. Eventually, tumorigenicity and metastasis ability of LNCaP/SP were confirmed by xenograft experiments.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The percentages of CSCs of the CD133 CD44 + immunophenotype were extremely low in the five PCa cell lines. On the contrary, the percentages of the isolated SP cells were significantly higher in Du145 ([0.15 +/- 0.02]%), IA8 ([0.60 +/- 0.07 ]%), LNCaP ([0.8 +/- 0.1]%) and TSU-PrL ([2.0 +/- 0.4]%), but none was detected in PC-3. Besides, IA8/SP, LNCaP/SP and TSU-PrL/SP cells showed a significantly greater colony-forming efficiency than non-side population (NSP) cells (P < 0.05). Compared with LNCaP/NSP cells, LNCaP/SP cells exhibited high expressions of integrin alpha2, Nanog, CD44, OCT4 and ABCG2, remarkably enhanced invasive and proliferative potentials in vitro, and markedly increased tumorigenicity and metastasis (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>SP sorting is more suitable than CD133+ CD44+ selection for enriching CSCs from PCa cell lines, and LNCaP/ SP represents a typical CSC population.</p>

Identification of Wnt/beta-catenin signal pathway in human prostate cancer cell lines and its significance / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To determine the Wnt/beta-catenin signal pathway in different human prostate cancer cell lines and explore its role in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in human prostate cancer.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We detected the expressions of beta-catenin, t-GSK3beta and p-GSK3beta in several prostate cancer cell lines (LNCaP, C4, C4-2, C4-2B, IF11, IA8, PC-3 and DU145) with different characteristics of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) by Western blotting.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>There were remarkable differences in the expressions of beta-catenin and p-GSK3beta among the cell lines, with beta-catenin and p-GSK3beta highly expressed in LNCaP, C4, C4-2, C4-2B, IF11 and IA8, lowly expressed in PC-3 and DU145, but no difference was observed in the expressions of t-GSK3beta in all the cell lines.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>There are differences in the state of the Wnt/beta-catenin signal pathway among the cell lines with different characters of EMT.</p>

Expressions of E-cadherin and beta-catenin in LNCaP and ARCaP cell lines and their significance / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the expressions of E-cadherin and beta-catenin in LNCaP and ARCaP cell lines and explore their relationship with the metastasis of human prostate cancer.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The expressions and distribution of E-cadherin and beta-catenin in LNCaP and ARCaP cell lines (IF11 and IA8) were detected by Western blot and immunofluorescent staining.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The expression of E-cadherin was high in LNCaP, but absent in IF11 and IA8, while beta-catenin was expressed highly in IF11 and LA8, but lowly in LNCaP. Immunofluorescent staining showed that E-cadherin was mainly in the membrane of LNCaP, while beta-catenin both in the membrane of LNCaP and in the nuclei of IF11 and IA8.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>E-cadherin and beta-catenin are differently expressed and distributed in prostate cancer cell lines with different characteristics of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and the abnormal activation of the beta-catenin signal pathway may be involved in the EMT of prostate cancer cells.</p>