Gene Expression Analysis of Human Prostate Carcinoma during Hormonal Therapy Identifies Androgen-Responsive Genes and Mechanisms of Therapy Resistance

Jeff Holzbeierlein, Priti Lal, Eva LaTulippe, Alex Smith, Jaya Satagopan, Liying Zhang, Charles Ryan, Steve Smith, Howard Scher, Peter Scardino, Victor Reuter, William L. Gerald

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

504 Scopus citations

Abstract

The androgen-signaling pathway is critical to the development and progression of prostate cancer and androgen ablation is a mainstay of therapy for this disease. We performed a genome-wide expression analysis of human prostate cancer during androgen ablation therapy to identify genes regulated by androgen and genes differentially expressed after the development of resistance. Six hundred and fifty-four of 63,175 probe sets detected significant expression changes after 3 months of treatment with goserelin and flutamide. This included 149 genes that were also differentially expressed 36 hours after androgen withdrawal in LNCaP cells. These genes reflect the physiological changes that occur in treated tumors and include potential direct targets of the androgen receptor. Expression profiles of androgen ablation-resistant tumors demonstrated that many of the gene expression changes detected during therapy were no longer present suggesting a reactivation of the androgen response pathway in the absence of exogenous hormone. Therapy resistance was associated with differential expression of a unique set of genes that reflect potential mechanisms of reactivation. Specifically an up-regulation of the androgen receptor and key enzymes for steroid biosynthesis suggest that resistant tumors have increased sensitivity to and endogenous synthesis of androgenic hormones. The specific pathways of reactivation provide opportunities for classification of resistant tumors and targeted therapies.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)217-227
Number of pages11
JournalAmerican Journal of Pathology
Volume164
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2004
Externally publishedYes

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