New evidence links inflammation and increased prostate cancer risk

UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer CenterDr. Andrew Goldstein of UCLA uses walnuts to explain his latest research about chronic inflammation and it ’s link to increased risk for prostate cancer. FINDINGSUCLA researchers have discovered a previously unrecognized type of progenitor cell that, though rare in most regions of the human prostate, is found in uncommonly high numbers in inflamed areas of the gland. These progenitor cells have the ability to initiate prostate cancer in response to genetic changes. The study results suggest inflammation increases overall risk for the disease by increasing the available pool of progenitor cells that can develop into prostate cancer.BACKGROUNDScientists have known that one of the risk factors for high-grade prostate cancer is chronic inflammation of the prostate (a process in which cells from the immune system have taken up residence in the gland), but they have been unsure how this process led to cancer. UCLA-led research previously showed that two different types of cells, known as basal and luminal, represented potential progenitor cells and, with varying degrees of aggressiveness, could initiate prostate cancer. Further research by colleagues at Johns Hopkins Medical Center observed that prostate cells in the proximity of inflammation appeared different under the microscope and expressed different genes, leading to the hypothesis that they were more likely to proliferate than prostate cells from areas without inflammation. The UCLA...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news