Regretfully, metastatic forms of prostate cancer (spread to distant sites via the blood system) treated with chemotherapy often acquire resistance to the drug, partially due to the repetitive nature of treatment. Resistance leads to tumor progression and treatment failure.
This scientific article proposes a novel therapeutic target named WNT16B that might be responsible for the acquisition of prostate cancer resistance to repeated chemotherapy, and deals with an important yet often overlooked issue of how the normal tissues surrounding the tumor contribute to this process.
Analyzing gene expression in response to cancer therapy, the authors identified a group of proteins, that included WNT16B, secreted by cells of the tumor’s immediate surroundings (‘microenvironment’). The expression and secretion of WNT16B was associated with promotion of tumor cell survival and growth, and attenuated the effects of chemotherapy when tested both on cell cultures and in mice. Furthermore, inhibition of WNT16B managed to reduce chemotherapy resistance.
The present study demonstrates that therapeutic targeting of certain components of tumor’s microenvironment can weaken chemotherapy-induced acceleration of cancer progression. WNT16B can potentially be considered as a new target for metastatic prostate cancer therapy, and it seems very likely that some work in this direction will be done soon.
The results clearly point out on the limitation of chemotherapy given in a cyclical manner. Although the authors do not discuss it directly, it seems that a subgroup of patients with no detectable level of WNT16B after the first round of chemotherapy is more suitable for consequent rounds and less likely to experience the cancer recurrence.
We must keep in mind that WNT16B is only one of many potential proteins that may contribute to cancer “chemo-resistance”, and the only tested out of a group of proteins found to be secreted by cells of the tumor’s microenvironment in this study.
Published By :
Nature Medicine
Date :
Aug 05, 2012
