(Press-News.org) ANN ARBOR, Michigan — A new study from University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center researchers identifies a cellular signature that explains why about one-third of prostate cancers respond especially poorly to treatment.
Treatments such as enzalutamide, which is an androgen receptor pathway inhibitor (ARPI), are standard of care for advanced prostate cancer. While many patients have long-term good response to the drugs, some will derive no benefit whatsoever. These “extreme non-responder” patients die much more quickly from prostate cancer.
The new study, published in npj Precision Oncology, looked at RNA sequencing data and clinical outcomes from several prostate cancer clinical trial datasets. The researchers identified a gene program linked to ARPI extreme non-response. Moreover, they discovered the chemotherapy docetaxel could be a good option earlier on in patients whose tumor harbors the ARPI extreme non-response program. Docetaxel is approved for prostate cancer but typically given later in the course of treatment.
“We found significant differences in the gene expression program between prostate cancers that do exceptionally well vs. exceptionally poorly with ARPIs. Patients who have this extreme non-response program appear to get significant benefit from docetaxel, suggesting these patients may be good candidates for earlier docetaxel treatment,” said lead first author Anbarasu Kumaraswamy, Ph.D., an investigator in the Alumkal Lab at the Rogel Cancer Center.
The researchers also found that the kinase CDK2 regulates the extreme non-response program, and targeting CDK2 could block the program and reduce tumor growth in the laboratory samples that harbored the ARPI extreme non-response program. The authors suggest exploring CDK2 inhibitors, currently in clinical trials in other cancer types, as a promising new direction in prostate cancers with the extreme ARPI non-responder program.
Additional authors: Ya-Mei Hu, Joel A. Yates, Chao Zhang, Eva Rodansky, Dhruv Khokhani, Diana Flores, Zhi Duan, Yi Zhang, Shaadi Tabatabaei, Rachel Slottke, Shangyuan Ye, Primo Lara, Adam Foye, Charles J. Ryan, David A. Quigley, Jiaoti Huang, Rahul Aggarwal, Robert E. Reiter, Max S. Wicha, Tomasz M. Beer, Matthew Rettig, Martin Gleave, Christopher P. Evans, Owen N. Witte, Joshua M. Stuart, George V. Thomas, Felix Y. Feng, Eric J. Small, Zheng Xia, Joshi J. Alumkal
Funding for this work is from Stand Up to Cancer-Prostate Cancer Foundation; Prostate Cancer Foundation; National Cancer Institute grants R01 CA251245, R01 CA282005, R01 CA291986, P50 CA186786, P30CA046592; National Comprehensive Cancer Network/Astellas Pharma Global Development/Pfizer Inc; Joint Institute for Cancer Research; Allen Family; Smith Family; U.S. Department of Defense grant W81XWH2110539; National Institute of General Medical Sciences grant R01 GM147365; National Institutes of Health grant T90 DE030859
Disclosure: None relevant to this work
Paper cited: “Transcriptional profiling clarifies a program of enzalutamide extreme nonresponse
in lethal prostate cancer,” npj Precision Oncology. DOI: 10.1038/s41698-025-01002-8
Resources:
University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, www.rogelcancercenter.org
Michigan Medicine Cancer AnswerLine, 800-865-1125
# # #
END
Northern Australia's annual monsoon season brings relief to drought-stricken lands and revitalises crops and livestock for farmers. But a study of 150,000 years of climate records shows that the monsoon is likely to intensify — triggering a higher risk of flooding while worsening the impact of droughts in East Asia.
Led by Professor Michael Bird, researchers at James Cook University and Flinders University have assessed sediments at Girraween Lagoon near Darwin, revealing a continuous record of monsoon rainfall patterns dating back beyond the last interglacial period.
This ...
Retinoids and mineral sunscreen among the most effective for multiple skin complaints
Full list of recommended ingredients for each skin concern included in study
Nearly 80 dermatologists from 43 institutions participated in a robust national ingredient review
CHICAGO --- From drugstore aisles to TikTok trends, consumers are bombarded with skin care products. But how do you know what really works, especially now with summer in full swing?
A Northwestern Medicine study offers clarity, identifying the ingredients that dermatologists agree are most effective ...
Bentham Science Publishers is pleased to announce that MicroRNA has been awarded an Impact Factor ranking by Clarivate Analytics. The journal, currently edited by Dr. Alberto Izzoti (University of Genoa), has been providing readers with cutting-edge research on molecular biology and the therapeutic applications of MicroRNAs. Bentham Science extends its heartfelt congratulations to all journal contributors, including editors, authors and staff who have supported the journal since its inception.
Impact Factor Update: With MicroRNA’s addition to the Impact Factor list, ...
Got a sore throat and the sniffles? The recent rise of rapid at-home tests has made it easier to find out if you have a serious illness like COVID-19 or just a touch of spring allergies.
But while quick and convenient, these at-home tests are less sensitive than those available at the doctor’s office, meaning that you may still test negative even if you are infected.
A solution may come in the form of a new, low-cost biosensing technology that could make rapid at-home tests up to 100 times more sensitive to ...
In this special collection, Aging seeks to bring together cutting-edge research that spans the cellular and molecular underpinnings of cognitive aging with insights into the psychosocial, behavioral, and environmental factors that modulate its course.
BUFFALO, NY — July 8, 2025 — As populations worldwide continue to age, understanding the mechanisms and manifestations of cognitive aging is increasingly urgent for science, medicine, and society. Age-related cognitive decline ranges from mild memory lapses to the onset of dementia, and is shaped by a complex interplay of molecular, cellular, systemic, and social ...
OXFORD, Miss. – Despite its name, the young adult genre is increasingly dominated by stories about older teens and even adults. But as protagonists get older, younger readers are getting left behind, a University of Mississippi study indicates.
Ally Watkins, research and instruction librarian at the J.D. Williams Library, published her research into the increasing age of young adult protagonists in the New Review of Children's Literature and Librarianship.
“I think it's important for any reader to see themselves ...
ChatGPT works by analyzing vast amounts of text, identifying patterns and synthesizing them to generate responses to users’ prompts. Color metaphors like “feeling blue” and “seeing red” are commonplace throughout the English language, and therefore comprise part of the dataset on which ChatGPT is trained.
But while ChatGPT has “read” billions of words about what it might mean to feel blue or see red, it has never actually seen a blue sky or a red apple in the ways that humans have. Which begs the questions: Do embodied experiences — the capacity ...
Quantum computers have operated under a significant limitation: they can run only one program at a time. These million-dollar machines demand exclusive use even for the smallest tasks, leaving much of their expensive and fast-running hardware idle and forcing researchers to endure long queues.
Columbia Engineering researchers have developed HyperQ, a novel system that enables multiple users to share a single quantum computer simultaneously through isolated quantum virtual machines (qVMs). This key development brings quantum computing closer to real-world usability—more practical, ...
LOS ANGELES — The herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), which affects almost two-thirds of the world’s population and is generally associated with oral herpes, may cause painful cold sores or fever blisters around the mouth.
Yet, when genetically engineered to fight cancer, the virus may also play an important role in treating advanced melanoma, skin cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, according to phase 1-2 clinical trial results published in the Journal of Clinical ...
Ecosystems are characterized by interconnected structure and functions. A study published July 8th in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Casey Benkwitt at Lancaster University, United Kingdom and colleagues suggests that restoring seabird populations via eradication of rats may help coral reefs by restoring nutrient connectivity in disrupted food chains.
Invasive rats in the Seychelles have decreased native seabird populations. However, the mechanism by which seabirds may impact coral reef ecosystem structure ...
