The androgen receptor splice variant 7 (AR-V7) is associated with resistance to hormonal therapy in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Due to limitations of the methods available for AR-V7 analysis, the identification of a reliable detection method may facilitate the use of this biomarker in clinical practice.
To confirm AR-V7 as a predictor of resistance to hormonal therapy and develop a new approach to assess AR-V7 by highly sensitive digital droplet polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) in plasma-derived exosomal RNA.
Plasma samples were collected from 36 CRPC patients before they began second-line hormonal treatment. Exosomes were isolated and RNA extracted for analysis of AR-V7 by ddPCR.
The absolute target gene concentration as copies per milliliter (copies/ml) was determined by ddPCR. Statistical analyses were performed with SPSS software (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA).
A total of 26 patients received abiraterone and 10 enzalutamide; 39% of patients were found to be AR-V7 positive (AR-V7(+)). Median progression-free survival was significantly longer in AR-V7 negative (AR-V7(-)) versus AR-V7(+) patients (20 vs 3 mo; p<0.001). Overall survival was significantly shorter in AR-V7(+) participants at baseline compared with AR-V7(-) participants (8 mo vs not reached; p<0.001).
This study demonstrates that plasma-derived exosomal RNA is a reliable source of AR-V7 that can be detected sensitively by ddPCR assay. We also showed that resistance to hormonal therapy may be predicted by AR-V7, making it a clinically relevant biomarker.
We report a first study on a method for androgen receptor splice variant 7 (AR-V7) detection in RNA extracted from cancer cell vesicles released in blood. Results confirmed the role of AR-V7 as a predictive biomarker of resistance to hormonal therapy. Our assay showed that vesicles are a reliable source of AR-V7 RNA and that the method is fast, highly sensitive, and affordable.
European urology. 2016 Aug 26 [Epub ahead of print]
Go “Beyond the Abstract” - Read an article commentary written by the authors
Marzia Del Re, Elisa Biasco, Stefania Crucitta, Lisa Derosa, Eleonora Rofi, Cinzia Orlandini, Mario Miccoli, Luca Galli, Alfredo Falcone, Guido W Jenster, Ron H van Schaik, Romano Danesi
Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenetics Unit, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy. Electronic address: ., Medical Oncology Unit, Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy., Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenetics Unit, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy., Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy., Department of Urology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands., Department of Clinical Chemistry, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.