Early Detection of Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer by Assessing Interactions Between Circulating Tumor Cells and Accompanying Immune Cells
Abstract
Prostate cancer is the most frequent diagnosed cancer in men. In majority of 'castration sensitive' patients proliferation of cancer cells depends on supply of androgen and can be attenuated by the androgen deprivation therapy (AOT). Unfortunately, many patients develop castration resistance (CR), when the tumor growth and metastatic spread continue despite ADT. For effective second-line therapy that saves lives and improves life quality, the resistance needs to be detected early. To reach the goal of early detection, we test properties of rare cells that are responsible for spreading metastasis. These circulating tumor cells (CTCs) shed from the primary tumor or metastatic lesions are isolated from the standard blood sample and are considered seeds of metastasis. The majority of CTCs die, however the surviving aggressive cells travel with blood, undergo epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), extravasate and start secondary tumor growth in distant organs. Our specific aims call for determining the role and interactions with circulating macrophages in survival-promoting mechanical fitness of CTCs. Combing the cell culture studies with profiling of CTCs leads to construction of a predictive model for early CR detection.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2022
- Accession Number
- AD1196931
Entities
People
- Chun-Liang Chen
- Maria Gaczyńska
- Pawel A. Osmulski
- Tim H. Huang
Organizations
- University of Texas at San Antonio