Lineage Plasticity and Stemness Phenotypes in Prostate Cancer: Harnessing the Power of Integrated "Omics" Approaches to Explore Measurable Metrics

Prostate cancer (PCa), the most frequent and second most lethal cancer type in men in developed countries, is a highly heterogeneous disease. PCa heterogeneity, therapy resistance, stemness, and lethal progression have been attributed to lineage plasticity, which refers to the ability of neoplastic cells to undergo phenotypic changes under microenvironmental pressures by switching between developmental cell states. What remains to be elucidated is how to identify measurements of lineage plasticity, how to implement them to inform preclinical and clinical research, and, further, how to classify patients and inform therapeutic strategies in the clinic. Recent research has highlighted the crucial role of next-generation sequencing technologies in identifying potential biomarkers associated with lineage plasticity. Here, we review the genomic, transcriptomic, and epigenetic events that have been described in PCa and highlight those with significance for lineage plasticity. We further focus on their relevance in PCa research and their benefits in PCa patient classification. Finally, we explore ways in which bioinformatic analyses can be used to determine lineage plasticity based on large omics analyses and algorithms that can shed light on upstream and downstream events. Most importantly, an integrated multiomics approach may soon allow for the identification of a lineage plasticity signature, which would revolutionize the molecular classification of PCa patients.

Sequencing Treatment for Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

OPINION STATEMENT

Prostate cancer is the most common non-cutaneous cancer diagnosed in men and the second leading cause of male cancer deaths in the USA. While most cases are diagnosed in early stages, some will present as or progress to metastatic disease and eventually castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) which has a mortality rate exceeding 50 %. There are currently six approved systemic life-prolonging therapies for use in mCRPC, yet little data to guide sequencing. Clinical factors, including the presence or absence of symptoms and the presence or absence of visceral metastases, should help determine the best therapeutic choice at each treatment node. Those with asymptomatic bone-only disease could be considered for sipuleucel-T, abiraterone, enzalutamide, or docetaxel in the first-line setting. For symptomatic disease, docetaxel could be used or radium-223 if disease is only present in the bone. In the second-line setting, sipuleucel-T or radium-223 can be used in the appropriate clinical setting. Taxane chemotherapy could be used if a novel androgen-directed therapy was used in the first-line setting. Cabazitaxel, if docetaxel was previously used, should be considered. There is scarce data on best treatment options in the third-line setting. In general, we recommend alternating between androgen-targeting agents and taxane chemotherapy. Finally, consideration should be given to testing for the androgen receptor splice variant AR-V7, which may be a relevant treatment-specific biomarker to aid in the selection of androgen-targeting therapy versus chemotherapy at each treatment juncture. Mutation testing for DNA damage repair defects can also be considered, as such patients may benefit from investigational poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors or platinum-based chemotherapies. Several ongoing studies have been designed to answer some of these sequencing questions, including the biomarker questions, and will hopefully continue to inform us about rational therapy selection in mCRPC.

Mechanisms of resistance to systemic therapy in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer

Patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCPRC) now have an unprecedented number of approved treatment options, including chemotherapies (docetaxel, cabazitaxel), androgen receptor (AR)-targeted therapies (enzalutamide, abiraterone), a radioisotope (radium-223) and a cancer vaccine (sipuleucel-T). However, the optimal treatment sequencing pathway is unknown, and this problem is exacerbated by the issues of primary and acquired resistance. This review focuses on mechanisms of resistance to AR-targeted therapies and taxane-based chemotherapy. Patients treated with abiraterone, enzalutamide, docetaxel or cabazitaxel may present with primary resistance, or eventually acquire resistance when on treatment. Multiple resistance mechanisms to AR-targeted agents have been proposed, including: intratumoral androgen production, amplification, mutation, or expression of AR splice variants, increased steroidogenesis, upregulation of signals downstream of the AR, and development of androgen-independent tumor cells. Known mechanisms of resistance to chemotherapy are distinct, and include: tubulin alterations, increased expression of multidrug resistance genes, TMPRSS2-ERG fusion genes, kinesins, cytokines, and components of other signaling pathways, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Utilizing this information, biomarkers of resistance/response have the potential to direct treatment decisions. Expression of the AR splice variant AR-V7 may predict resistance to AR-targeted agents, but available biomarker assays are yet to be prospectively validated in the clinic. Ongoing prospective trials are evaluating the sequential use of different drugs, or combination regimens, and the results of these studies, combined with a deeper understanding of mechanisms of primary and acquired resistance to treatment, have the potential to drive future treatment decisions in mCRPC.

Applications of circulating tumor cells for prostate cancer

One of the major challenges that clinicians face is in the difficulties of accurately monitoring disease progression. Prostate cancer is among these diseases and greatly affects the health of men globally. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are a rare population of cancer cells that have shed from the primary tumor and entered the peripheral circulation. Not until recently, clinical applications of CTCs have been limited to using enumeration as a prognostic tool in Oncology. However, advances in emerging CTC technologies point toward new applications that could revolutionize the field of prostate cancer. It is now possible to study CTCs as components of a liquid biopsy based on morphological phenotypes, biochemical analyses, and genomic profiling. These advances allow us to gain insight into the heterogeneity and dynamics of cancer biology and to further study the mechanisms behind the evolution of therapeutic resistance. These recent developments utilizing CTCs for clinical applications will greatly impact the future of prostate cancer research and pave the way towards personalized care for men.