Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is standard of care for patients with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (HSPC), yet through its induction of a hypogonadal state leads to metabolic perturbations, including insulin resistance (IR) and obesity. IR and obesity have been associated with an increased risk of progression to castrate-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) and ultimately increased prostate cancer-specific mortality. On a molecular level, this association between obesity/IR and prostate cancer progression may be mediated by alterations in the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) axis, which has been shown to be up-regulated upon disease progression to CRPC. Targeting the IGF axis, either by anti-IGF therapy or via enhancement of peripheral insulin sensitivity, represents a viable therapeutic target in patients with prostate cancer. Using the development of IR and/or obesity may represent a clinically available biomarker that may predict those patients most likely to respond to such therapy, and warrants testing in future prospective clinical trials.
Written by:
Aggarwal RR, Ryan CJ, Chan JM. Are you the author?
Reference: Urol Oncol. 2011 Jun 7. Epub ahead of print.
doi: 10.1016/j.urolonc.2011.05.001
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 21658978
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