Resolution of Cellular Heterogeneity in Human Prostate Cancers: Implications for Diagnosis and Treatment.

Resolution of Cellular Heterogeneity in Human Prostate Cancers: Implications for Diagnosis and Treatment. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2019;1164:207-224 Authors: Maitland NJ, Frame FM, Rane JK, Erb HH, Packer JR, Archer LK, Pellacani D Abstract Prostate cancers have a justified reputation as one of the most heterogeneous human tumours. Indeed, there are some who consider that advanced and castration-resistant prostate cancers are incurable, as a direct result of this heterogeneity. However, tumour heterogeneity can be defined in different ways. To a clinician, prostate cancer is a number of different diseases, the treatments for which remain equally heterogeneous and uncertain. To the pathologist, the histopathological appearances of the tumours are notoriously heterogeneous. Indeed, the genius of Donald Gleason in the 1960s was to devise a classification system designed to take into account the heterogeneity of the tumours both individually and in the whole prostate context. To the cell biologist, a prostate tumour consists of multiple epithelial cell types, inter-mingled with various fibroblasts, neuroendocrine cells, endothelial cells, macrophages and lymphocytes, all of which interact to influence treatment responses in a patient-specific manner. Finally, genetic analyses of prostate cancers have been compromised by the variable gene rearrangements and paucity of activating mutations observed, even in large numbers of patient tumours with c...
Source: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology - Category: Research Tags: Adv Exp Med Biol Source Type: research