Early studies suggested that prostate cancer (PCa) stem/progenitor (S/P) cells might play key roles to promote the tumor initiation and metastasis. Yet their linkage to the failure of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), however, remains unclear.
Here we demonstrated that the ADT with anti-androgens Casodex (also known as Bicalutamide) and Enzalutamide (also known as MDV3100), but not newly identified AR degradation enhancer ASC-J9(®), increased PCa S/P population, which might then lead to enhance the PCa cell invasion. Targeting AR with ASC-J9(®), and not targeting androgens with Casodex or Enzalutamide, led to suppress PCa S/P cell invasion. Mechanism dissection revealed ASC-J9(®) could suppress S/P cell invasion via altering the EZH2/STAT3 and/or AKT/EZH2/STAT3 signals. Together, these results suggest that targeting PCa S/P cells with ASC-J9(®) or inhibitors to interrupt the EZH2/STAT3 and/or Akt/EZH2/STAT3 signals may become a new therapy to overcome the unwanted side effects of Casodex or Enzalutamide to further suppress the PCa metastasis.
Cancer letters. 2016 Apr 01 [Epub ahead of print]
Simeng Wen, Jing Tian, Yuanjie Niu, Lei Li, Shuyuan Yeh, Chawnshang Chang
Chawnshang Chang Sex Hormone Research Center, Tianjin Institute of Urology, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300211, China; George Whipple Lab for Cancer Research, Departments of Pathology and Urology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY 14642, USA., Chawnshang Chang Sex Hormone Research Center, Tianjin Institute of Urology, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300211, China; Ultrasound Department, The Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300211, China., Chawnshang Chang Sex Hormone Research Center, Tianjin Institute of Urology, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300211, China. George Whipple Lab for Cancer Research, Departments of Pathology and Urology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY 14642, USA., George Whipple Lab for Cancer Research, Departments of Pathology and Urology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY 14642, USA., George Whipple Lab for Cancer Research, Departments of Pathology and Urology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY 14642, USA; Sex Hormone Research Center, China Medical University, Taichung 404, Taiwan.