Androgen biosynthesis in castration-resistant prostate cancer: Advances in studies.
- Author:
Bo CHEN
1
;
De-Hong CAO
1
;
Jian-Bing GUO
1
;
Liang-Ren LIU
1
;
Qiang WEI
1
Author Information
1. Department of Urology / Research Institute of Urology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China.
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
androgen;
androgen biosynthesis;
androgen deprivation therapy;
androgen receptor;
castration-resistant prostate cancer
- From:National Journal of Andrology
2019;25(3):265-271
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Prostate cancer is a most common malignant tumor in the male urogenital system. Currently, castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) is a bottleneck in the treatment of prostate cancer, which has a very poor prognosis, with a median survival of merely 12 months. Although androgen-deprivation therapy eliminates the majority of the androgens in circulation, CRPC patients adapt to low-level androgens by synthesizing intratumoral androgens or altering androgen receptors. This review summarizes the main ways of synthesizing testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT), the enzymes involved, and changes of the androgen level in different stages of CRPC. Blocking any one of the pathways of androgen biosynthesis is likely to upregulate another and lead to incomplete androgen elimination and consequently drug resistance. Therefore, identifying the pathways of androgen biosynthesis may provide an opportunity for the development of the drugs for blocking the major pathways of androgen and introtumoral androgen biosynthesis and antagonizing androgen receptors.
