Study Pinpoints Enzyme Controlling Aggressive Prostate Cancer

摘要

With no treatment currently available, aggressive, metastatic-stage prostate cancer poses a major health challenge. A new research study, however, has uncovered a critical cellular mechanism that contributes to aggressive prostate cancer. The study was published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research. The research, led by investigators at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Health (SKCC) and their collaborators at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the University of California, San Francisco, and Celgene Corporation, focused on an enzyme called DNA-PK (DNA-dependent protein kinase), an important cellular component that controls DNA repair and influences gene expression. The work was headed by the laboratory of Karen E. Knudsen, PhD, executive vice president of oncology services and enterprise director of SKCC. Earlier studies showed that DNA-PK is extremely active in metastatic prostate cancer and is associated with a poor prognosis. “Our study further elucidates the functions of DNA-PK and identi-fies this protein as a master regulator of gene networks that promote aggressive cancer behav-iors,” says lead author Emanuela Dylgjeri.