A new generation of potent prostate cancer drugs has dramatically extended survival for patients with advanced prostate cancer. But prostate tumors are finding new ways of resisting these treatments, creating a need for new treatment options.
In a new study published today, researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center discovered that when aggressive prostate tumors turn off the receptor, their source for growth-fueling hormones, they ramp up a different growth-promoting system. When the scientists targeted this pathway in mouse models of prostate cancer, the mice lived longer.
“We figured out the mechanism by which [tumors lacking androgen receptor continue growing] … and that may be a therapeutic vulnerability,” said Hutch prostate cancer researcher and oncologist Dr. Andrew Hsieh, who led the study, which was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine. Hsieh also treats patients with prostate cancer at the University of Washington Medical Center.
Read more at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center