ESPA two-drug combination may help stop aggressive prostate cancers that escape treatment by changing their cellular identity. About one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point in their lives. Many patients survive the disease, but prostate cancer can sometimes spread to other parts of the body and become metastatic.
In the United States, prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death among men.
Most prostate tumors initially resemble the glands of the prostate and express genes associated with glandular cells. Their growth also commonly depends on androgens, male hormones such as testosterone.
Because of this dependence, androgen receptor inhibitors are a mainstay of treatment for metastatic prostate cancer. These drugs can work well at first, but nearly all patients eventually develop resistance.
Some resistant prostate tumors survive by activating alternative biological pathways that reshape the identity of their cells. As this happens, the cancer cells lose some of their glandular characteristics and begin adopting other cellular identities.
In a new study published in JCI Insight, researchers at the University of Michigan identified two pathways that may be targeted at the same time to treat prostate tumors that have undergone this transformation.
The researchers believe the strategy could eventually have implications beyond prostate cancer. They hope similar approaches might work against other cancers that undergo transdifferentiation, including cancers of the lung and
pancreas. Know more: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260904000324.htm
