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Columbia Scientists Find Gene that Drives Prostate Cancer
The study found that blocking SIRT1 in mice reduced neuroendocrine prostate cancer growth and reversed the cancer state in cells.
Researchers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center identified Sirtuin1 as a driver of neuroendocrine prostate cancer in a study published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.
While androgen deprivation therapy is the standard treatment for prostate cancer, it eventually fails, causing tumors to transition into the aggressive, ADT-insensitive variant known as NEPC.
Columbia University Professor Cory Abate-Shen's team screened mice for recurring mutations, identifying 75 candidate genes before determining that silencing SIRT1 profoundly reduced tumor growth.
The researchers found that Selisistat, an FDA-approved SIRT1-inhibitor developed for Huntington's disease, significantly reversed the NEPC phenotype in mice, establishing a potential path for human treatments.
Abate-Shen, who co-led the study with fellow professor Andrea Califano, stated, "Elucidating the mechanisms governing this process may improve treatment by overcoming plasticity-associated drug resistance.