Wnt Signaling and Therapeutic Resistance in Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

Curr Pharmacol Rep. 2023 Oct;9(5):261-274. doi: 10.1007/s40495-023-00333-z. Epub 2023 Sep 19.ABSTRACTPURPOSE OF REVIEW: Castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) is a lethal form of prostate cancer (PCa) due to the development of resistance to androgen deprivation therapy and anti-androgens. Here, we review the emerging role of Wnt signaling in therapeutic resistance of CRPC.RECENT FINDINGS: Convincing evidence have accumulated that Wnt signaling is aberrantly activated through genomic alterations and autocrine and paracrine augmentations. Wnt signaling plays a critical role in a subset of CRPC and in resistance to anti-androgen therapies. Wnt signaling navigates CRPC through PCa heterogeneity, neuroendocrine differentiation, DNA repair, PCa stem cell maintenance, epithelial-mesenchymal-transition and metastasis, and immune evasion.SUMMARY: Components of Wnt signaling can be harnessed for inhibiting PCa growth and metastasis and for developing novel therapeutic strategies to manage metastatic CRPC. There are many Wnt pathway-based potential drugs in different stages of pre-clinical development and clinical trials but so far, no Wnt signaling-specific drug has been approved by FDA for clinical use in CRPC.PMID:37994344 | PMC:PMC10664806 | DOI:10.1007/s40495-023-00333-z
Source: Pharmacological Reports - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Source Type: research