The incidence of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is increasing worldwide, and its prevalence is particularly high in some parts of Central Europe. Here we undertake whole-genome and transcriptome sequencing of clear cell RCC (ccRCC), the most common form of the disease, in patients from four different European countries with contrasting disease incidence to explore the underlying genomic architecture of RCC. Our findings support previous reports on frequent aberrations in the epigenetic machinery and PI3K/mTOR signalling, and uncover novel pathways and genes affected by recurrent mutations and abnormal transcriptome patterns including focal adhesion, components of extracellular matrix (ECM) and genes encoding FAT cadherins. Furthermore, a large majority of patients from Romania have an unexpected high frequency of A:T4T:A transversions, consistent with exposure to aristolochic acid (AA). These results show that the processes underlying ccRCC tumorigenesis may vary in different populations and suggest that AA may be an important ccRCC carcinogen in Romania, a finding with major public health implications.

Purpose: Although Src family kinase (SFK) inhibitors are now in clinical trials for the treatment of androgen-independent prostate cancer (AIPC), there are no studies relating SFK activation to patient survival. This study was designed to determine if SFK activation was up-regulated with the development of AIPC and if patients could be selected who were more likely to respond to therapy. Experimental Design: A unique cohort of matched prostate tumor samples, taken before hormone deprivation therapy and following hormone relapse, was used to determine by immunohistochemistry on an individual patient basis if SFK activity changed with progression to AIPC and whether this related to patient outcome measures. Using matched, hormone-sensitive and hormone-refractory cell lines, we determined if hormone status affected the way prostate cancer cells respond to suppression of SFK activity by the small-molecule inhibitor dasatinib.Results: In the current study, 28% of patients with AIPC exhibited an increase in SFK activity in prostate cancer tissue, these patients had significantly shorter overall survival (P < 0.0001), and activated SFK expression correlated with the presence of distant metastases. Dasatinib inhibited phosphorylation of Src and Lyn and the downstream substrate FAK in hormone-sensitive and hormone-refractory cell lines. Although migration was reduced by dasatinib in both cell lines, proliferation of hormone-refractory cells only was inhibited. Conclusion: Appropriate patient selection may allow better targeting of prostate cancer patients who are likely to respond to the treatment with SFK inhibitors at the same time improving the outcome of clinical trials.Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men and is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men in the United States and United Kingdom (1). Treatment options for locally advanced and metastatic prostate cancer are limited to androgen deprivation therapy or surgical castration. Unfortunately, nearly all of these patients eventually develop androgenindependent prostate cancer (AIPC) for which currently there are no established effective therapies.Our understanding of the mechanisms involved in the development of AIPC has considerably improved over the last decade. When deprived of androgen stimulation, androgensensitive prostate cancer (ASPC) cells develop the ability to survive and thrive by up-regulating oncogenic pathways where tyrosine kinases often play a crucial role (2). The nonreceptor tyrosine kinase Src is thought to facilitate the interaction between intracellular molecular cascades as well as form complexes with the androgen receptor (AR), which is expressed by the majority of AIPC cells. Tyrosine phosphorylation is an important factor in the regulation of AR activity resulting in translocation of the receptor into the nucleus and increase in DNA synthesis. Src activation by growth factors in prostate cancer cells has been shown to correlate with AR tyrosine phosphorylation, especially under androgen-depleted condi...

Concurrent activation of RAS/ERK and PI3K/AKT pathways is implicated in prostate cancer progression.The negative regulators of these pathways, including sprouty2 (SPRY2), protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), and phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), are commonly inactivated in prostate cancer. The molecular basis of cooperation between these genetic alterations is unknown. Here, we show that SPRY2 deficiency alone triggers activation of AKT and ERK, but this is insufficient to drive tumorigenesis. In addition to AKT and ERK activation, SPRY2 loss also activates a PP2A-dependent tumor suppressor checkpoint. Mechanistically, the PP2A-mediated growth arrest depends on GSK3β and is ultimately mediated by nuclear PTEN. In murine prostate cancer models, Pten haploinsufficiency synergized with Spry2 deficiency to drive tumorigenesis, including metastasis. Together, these results show that loss of Pten cooperates with Spry2 deficiency by bypassing a novel tumor suppressor checkpoint. Furthermore, loss of SPRY2 expression correlates strongly with loss of PTEN and/or PP2A subunits in human prostate cancer. This underlines the cooperation between SPRY2 deficiency and PTEN or PP2A inactivation in promoting tumorigenesis. Overall, we propose SPRY2, PTEN, and PP2A status as an important determinant of prostate cancer progression. Characterization of this trio may facilitate patient stratification for targeted therapies and chemopreventive interventions.

Background:Aberrant mitogen/extracellular signal-regulated kinase 5 (MEK5)–extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 5 (ERK5)-mediated signalling has been implicated in a number of tumour types including prostate cancer (PCa). The molecular basis of ERK5-driven carcinogenesis and its clinical relevance remain to be fully characterised.Methods:Modulation of ERK5 expression or function in human PCa PC3 and PC3–ERK5 (stably transfected with ERK5) cells was performed using siRNA-mediated knockdown or the MEK inhibitor PD18435 respectively. In vitro significance of ERK5 signalling was assessed by assays for proliferation, motility, invasion and invadopodia. Expression of matrix metalloproteinases/tissue inhibitors of metalloproteases was determined by Q-RT–PCR. Extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 5 expression in primary and metastatic PCa was examined using immunohistochemistry.Results:Reduction of ERK5 expression or signalling significantly inhibited the motility and invasive capability of PC3 cells. Extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 5-mediated signalling significantly promoted formation of in vivo metastasis in an orthotopic PCa model (P<0.05). Invadopodia formation was also enhanced by forced ERK5 expression in PC3 cells. Furthermore, in metastatic PCa, nuclear ERK5 immunoreactivity was significantly upregulated when compared with benign prostatic hyperplasia and primary PCa (P=0.013 and P<0.0001, respectively).Conclusion:Our in vitro, in vivo and clinical data support an important role for the MEK5–ERK5 signalling pathway in invasive PCa, which represents a potential target for therapy in primary and metastatic PCa.