Gain Critical Insights from Advanced Cell Models with Real-Time Analysis - 32

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Metastatic Prostate Cancer
Target Identified for Combo Therapy

S

cientists in the U.S., Spain, and Switzerland have identified a protein that could
represent a new target for treatment-resistant and metastatic prostate cancer.
Studies in genetically engineered mouse models (GEMM) and data from
human prostate cancer patients indicate that administering drugs targeting the
histone methyltransferase nuclear receptor binding SET domain protein 2 (NSD2)
in combination with conventional prostate cancer treatments could boost
effectiveness against advanced and metastatic disease.
NSD2 is a histone methyltransfease enzyme that plays a key role in the epigenetic
control of gene expression. New studies by a Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute
(IDIBELL)-led team, headed by Alvaro Aytés, Ph.D., and Katia Ruggero, Ph.D., suggest
that prostate tumors produce increasing levels of NSD2 during progression and acquisition of treatment resistance, and are dependent on the protein to continue growing
and spreading." ... our study demonstrates that NSD2 is a functional driver of prostate
cancer metastasis and suggests that it may be a target for treatment of advanced prostate cancer," the researchers wrote in their published paper in Nature Communications,
which is titled, "NSD2 is a conserved driver of metastatic prostate cancer progression."
Metastasis is a complex process that results in molecular changes in cancer cells,
which ultimately enable them to escape the tumor and disseminate to distant sites.
Scientists would ideally be able to study the biological processes and molecular
mechanisms underlying metastatic progression as they occur in vivo. "However,"
the authors pointed out, " inherent challenges in accessing primary tumors and
their metastases from cancer patients have made it difficult to study de novo
metastasis formation." One answer is to use GEMMs, which enable access to tumors
and metastases as they develop in the model organisms.
Nearly all prostate cancer deaths are due to metastases that are often resistant to
treatment. While the five-year survival for patients with locally confined disease is
more than 95%, for patients with metastatic prostate cancer five-year survival drops
to less than 30%, the team commented. Advanced disease also becomes refractory
to androgen deprivation therapy and develops into castration-resistant prostate
cancer, which is very aggressive and prone to metastasis. Although studies have
32

| January, 2019

New studies suggest that prostate tumors produce
increasing levels of NSD2 during progression and
acquisition of treatment resistance, and are dependent
on the protein to continue growing and spreading.
http://www.genengnews.com
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