FOXA1 in prostate cancer

Most prostate cancers initially respond to androgen deprivation therapy(ADT).With the long-term application of ADT,localized prostate cancer will progress to castration-resistant prostate cancer(CRPC),metastatic CRPC(mCRPC),and neuroendocrine prostate cancer(NEPC),and the transcriptional network shifted.Forkhead box protein A1(FOXA1)may play a key role in this process through multiple mechanisms.To better understand the role of FOXA1 in prostate cancer,we review the interplay among FOXA1-targeted genes,modulators of FOXA1,and FOXA1 with a particular emphasis on androgen receptor(AR)function.Furthermore,we discuss the distinct role of FOXA1 mutations in prostate cancer and clinical significance of FOXA1.We summarize possible regulation pathways of FOXA1 in different stages of prostate cancer.We focus on links between FOXA1 and AR,which may play different roles in various types of prostate cancer.Finally,we discuss FOXA1 mutation and its clinical significance in prostate cancer.FOXA1 regulates the development of prostate cancer through various pathways,and it could be a biomarker for mCRPC and NEPC.Future efforts need to focus on mechanisms underlying mutation of FOXA1 in advanced prostate cancer.We believe that FOXA1 would be a prognostic marker and therapeutic target in prostate cancer.

Improving the understanding of PI-RADS in practice: characters of PI-RADS 4 and 5 lesions with negative biopsy

The Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System(PI-RADS)has good ability to identify the nature of lesions on prostate magnetic resonance imaging(MRI).However,some lesions are still reported as PI-RADS 4 and 5 but are biopsy-proven benign.Herein,we aimed to summarize the reasons for the negative prostate biopsy of patients who were assessed as PI-RADS 4 and 5 by biparameter MRI.We retrospectively sorted out the prostate MRI,treatment,and follow-up results of patients who underwent a biparameter MRI examination of the prostate in The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University(Nanjing,China)from August 2019 to June 2021 with PI-RADS 4 and 5 but a negative biopsy.We focused on reviewing the MRI characteristics.A total of 467 patients underwent transperineal prostate biopsy.Among them,biopsy pathology of 93 cases were negative.After follow-up,90 patients were ruled out of prostate cancer.Among the 90 cases,40 were considered to be overestimated PI-RADS after review.A total of 22 cases were transition zone(TZ)lesions with regular appearance and clear boundaries,and 3 cases were symmetrical lesions.Among 15 cases,the TZ nodules penetrated the peripheral zone(PZ)and were mistaken for the origin of PZ.A total of 17 cases of lesions were difficult to distinguish from prostate cancer.Among them,5 cases were granulomatous inflammation(1 case of prostate tuberculosis).A total of 33 cases were ambiguous lesions,whose performance was between PI-RADS 3 and 4.In summary,the reasons for“false-positive MRI diagnosis”included PI-RADS overestimation,ambiguous images giving higher PI-RADS,diseases that were really difficult to distinguish,and missed lesion in the initial biopsy;and the first two accounted for the most.

Enzalutamide and olaparib synergistically suppress castration-resistant prostate cancer progression by promoting apoptosis through inhibiting nonhomologous end joining pathway

Recent studies revealed the relationship among homologous recombination repair(HRR),androgen receptor(AR),and poly(adenosine diphosphate-ribose)polymerase(PARP);however,the synergy between anti-androgen enzalutamide(ENZ)and PARP inhibitor olaparib(OLA)remains unclear.Here,we showed that the synergistic effect of ENZ and OLA significantly reduced proliferation and induced apoptosis in AR-positive prostate cancer cell lines.Next-generation sequencing followed by Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analyses revealed the significant effects of ENZ plus OLA on nonhomologous end joining(NHEJ)and apoptosis pathways.ENZ combined with OLA synergistically inhibited the NHEJ pathway by repressing DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit(DNA-PKcs)and X-ray repair cross complementing 4(XRCC4).Moreover,our data showed that ENZ could enhance the response of prostate cancer cells to the combination therapy by reversing the anti-apoptotic effect of OLA through the downregulation of anti-apoptotic gene insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor(IGF1R)and the upregulation of pro-apoptotic gene death-associated protein kinase 1(DAPK1).Collectively,our results suggested that ENZ combined with OLA can promote prostate cancer cell apoptosis by multiple pathways other than inducing HRR defects,providing evidence for the combined use of ENZ and OLA in prostate cancer regardless of HRR gene mutation status.