The Development of Lethal Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men worldwide and can become lethal due to metastasis and therapeutic resistance. Androgen deprivation therapy is initially highly effective, but also increases the incidence of castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Therefore, more potent AR pathway inhibitors (i.e. enzalutamide and abiraterone) are developed for CRPC. However, some metastatic CRPC further develop resistance by AR-independent mechanisms, such as the occurrence of neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) and double negative prostate cancer (DNPC). Adult stem cells in the prostate play key roles in postnatal development and homeostasis maintenance and have been considered as cells of origin for prostate cancer. Understanding the biology of prostate adult stem cells and prostate cancer lineage plasticity could provide underlying mechanisms for treatment-emergent prostate cancer evolution and shed light on novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for advanced prostate cancer patients.

The ultimate goal of this Research Topic is to uncover novel mechanisms underlying prostate cancer development and progression, and to seek effective therapies for advanced prostate cancer patients. Recent studies have demonstrated the role of adult stem cells in the onset and progression of prostate cancer, the mechanisms of therapeutic resistance, and the crucial mediators in prostate cancer metastasis. The current Research Topic will cover recent conceptional or methodological advances (review or mini-review), promising research trends (perspective or opinion), and novel research findings (original research article) in the field of prostate cancer research, with a focus on - but not limited to - understanding how prostate cancer becomes lethal with the characteristics of therapeutic resistance and metastasis.

Areas to be covered in this Research Topic may include, but are not limited to:
- Mechanisms behind therapeutic resistance in prostate cancer
- Prostate cancer metastasis
- Key regulators in adult stem cells of the prostate
- Novel drug candidates or therapeutic strategy for prostate cancer patients
- New models mimicking prostate cancer metastasis and therapeutic resistance
- Comprehensive analysis of prostate cancer evolution