{"id":956,"date":"2012-04-04T14:42:21","date_gmt":"2012-04-04T14:42:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/touchendocrinology.com\/2012\/04\/04\/androgen-deprivation-therapy-and-neuroendocrine-differentiation-in-prostate-carcinoma-a-possible-inductive-role-2\/"},"modified":"2012-04-04T14:42:21","modified_gmt":"2012-04-04T14:42:21","slug":"androgen-deprivation-therapy-and-neuroendocrine-differentiation-in-prostate-carcinoma-a-possible-inductive-role-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/touchendocrinology.com\/endocrine-oncology\/journal-articles\/androgen-deprivation-therapy-and-neuroendocrine-differentiation-in-prostate-carcinoma-a-possible-inductive-role-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Androgen Deprivation Therapy and Neuroendocrine Differentiation in Prostate Carcinoma \u2013 A Possible Inductive Role"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jongsma et al.1<\/sup> demonstrated that proliferation of prostatic cancer cell lines under the condition of androgen depletion can be modulated by neuropeptides, which are known to be produced by neuroendocrine (NE) cells. This androgen suppression or depletion can lead to an induction of NE differentiation. If NE cells are androgen-independent, it is reasonable to suppose that androgen-receptor-negative NE cells would increase in number despite hormonal suppression and that tumours manifesting NE differentiation and androgen receptor negativity may be resistant to hormonal manipulation.
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\nJongsma et al.1<\/sup> demonstrated that proliferation of prostatic cancer cell lines under the condition of androgen depletion can be modulated by neuropeptides, which are known to be produced by neuroendocrine (NE) cells. This androgen suppression or depletion can lead to an induction of NE differentiation. If NE cells are androgen-independent, it is reasonable to suppose that androgen-receptor-negative NE cells would increase in number despite hormonal suppression and that tumours manifesting NE differentiation and androgen receptor negativity may be resistant to hormonal manipulation. The NE component of prostate adenocarcinoma is resistant to hormone therapy; studies have shown that the number of NE tumour cells and chromogranin-A (CgA) serum levels increase when the human prostate tumour is omitted from hormonal therapy.1\u20133<\/sup> NE differentiation detection may help to identify patients who are prone to endocrine therapy failure.
\nAhlgren et al.4<\/sup> studied the extent of NE differentiation in prostate cancer after three months of hormonal treatment. Radical prostatectomy specimens from patients randomised to three-month neoadjuvant luteinising hormone-releasing hormone (LH-RH)-analogue treatment or to surgery alone were available for the analysis. Both the number of CgA positive cells and the proportion of NE positive tumours were significantly greater (p<0.003) in the neoadjuvant group than in the control group. NE differentiation did not correlate to the decrease in serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) after hormone therapy.
\nThe authors have analysed the serum concentration and prostate gene expression (through reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)) of CgA and PSA in patients affected by prostatic cancer and benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH).5<\/sup> In patients with prostate cancer, tissue samples for the analysis were obtained from radical prostatectomy. These patients will be progressively stratified on the basis of the Gleason score and neoadjuvant LH-RH-analogue therapy (three or six months). The authors found that in prostate cancers treated with LH-RH-analogue serum, CgA levels were significantly higher (p<0.01) than in the untreated group. On the contrary, PSA serum levels were higher in the untreated group when compared with treated prostate cancer cases. CgA and PSA messenger RNA (mRNA) were expressed in all the prostate tissue samples analysed (both BPH and prostate cancer), with the highest levels being in prostate cancer tissue (p<0.01). When considering treated and untreated prostate cancer cases separately, CgA mRNA levels were significantly higher (p<0.05) in treated than in untreated cases of prostate cancer. In contrast, the levels of PSA mRNA were significantly higher in untreated than in treated cases.
\nThe prostate cancer cases were stratified on the basis of the Gleason score. The highest serum and mRNA levels of CgA were observed in patients with a Gleason score of more than 7, and the difference between treated and untreated cases was more significant if limited to the analysis of a Gleason score of more than 7. These results suggest that hormone therapy in prostate cancer induces different effects on PSA and CgA. There are several hypotheses that must be considered:<\/p>\n