Research at Weill Cornell Medicine on two new prostate cancer subtypes could lead to new treatments that can help many men falling into these identifiable groups.
News of the discovery was released on May 31.
It was a mixed bag of news as these two newly identified subgroups are resistant to treatment.
However, identifying them and their characteristics will inevitably lead to new and different treatments,
according to scientists.
This offers a lot of hope for many men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer.
New treatments can soon increase the odds for those who are carrying cancer cells with the two subgroups, which are resistant to treatment.
About Prostate Cancers
Prostate cancer is one of the slower-growing types and already has many treatment options.
These types of cancers need male hormones like testosterone to grow so reducing those can help fight the disease.
Then, some resist current treatments.
Two New Subgroups
The two newly identified cancer subtypes are SCL and WNT.
Researchers studied the RNA and DNA of 40 tumor samples, along with their chromatin.
Chromatin is a mix of proteins and DNA that wraps up chromosomes in a cell.
Looking at the chromatin helped the researchers identify the four types of prostate cancer cells, including the two new varieties.
The scientists then looked at treatment resistance and saw SCL was in 22 to 30 percent of cases.
WNT was only five to seven percent.
New Treatments
Researchers looked further and found that proteins were too active and that changed chromatin, which drove tumors to faster growth in the new resistant cancer subtypes.
Now that scientists know which proteins are responsible for growth in the new subtypes, they said effective treatments can be developed.
Conclusion
There isn’t a timeframe for when new treatments will be available.
Scientists are conducting additional studies on the subgroups to see which treatments can be most effective before seeking clinical trials.
