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Docetaxel-based chemotherapy has been widely used as the first-line treatment for castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) patients. However, the mechanisms of docetaxel-resistance remain unclear. In the present study with the establishment of 2 in vitro models of docetaxel-resistant CRPC cell sublines, we firstly reported that activation of calpain may play a promotional role in the resistance of docetaxel in prostate cancer, meanwhile using the calpain inhibitor combined with docetaxel improved the efficiency of docetaxel in docetaxel-resistant cell sublines. Moreover, we also found that the expression of androgen-independent constitutively and transcriptionally active androgen receptor splice variant-7 (AR-V7) remained high in the docetaxel-resistant CRPC cell subline Rv1-DR, and that it may be involved in acquired docetaxel-resistance of CRPC. However, a novel importin-β inhibitor (importazole) was only capable of slightly decreasing the transcriptional activity of the AR signaling pathway via blocking nuclear import of AR-FL and various non-specific AR-Vs, instead of AR-V7. These findings suggest that calpain and AR-V7 may serve as important biomarkers in the treatment of CRPC, and targeting calpain and AR-V7 may provide a new approach in overcoming docetaxel-resistance.

Objective The clinical stage and pathological grade of bladder tumors are the most valuable parameters to judge the prognosis of bladder tumors. To explore the predictive value of tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage and tumor invasion degree on the prognostic risk of bladder cancer (BC) patients, Methods 90 cases of BC patients were selected as the research objects. Patient age, disease history, tumor metastasis, TNM stage, and tumor differentiation degree (TDD) were collected, and the influencing factors of patient prognosis were analyzed. In addition, the prognosis and urodynamic status of patients with different TNM stages were compared. Results ccording to the results of multiple regression analysis, the TDD, hydronephrosis, occurrence of lymph node metastasis (LNM), and TNM stage were independent prognostic factors of BC patients. The operation time of T3 and T4 patients (133.02 ± 9.72 min, 132.18 ± 10.08 min) was substantially longer than that of T1 and T2 patients (126.38 ± 9.41 min, 127.21 ± 10.28 min) (P < 0.05). The maximum urinary flow rates of patients in the T1, T2, T3, and T4 stages were 15.12 ± 1.79 mL/s, 14.18 ± 1.65 mL/s, 12.03 ± 1.87 mL/s, and 11.76 ± 2.01 mL/s, respectively. The maximum urinary velocity of T3 and T4 patients was notably inferior to that of T1 and T2 patients (P < 0.05), and T2 stage was notably inferior to T1 stage (P < 0.05). The residual urine volumes of patients in the T1, T2, T3, and T4 stages were 27.23 ± 6.78 mL, 27.08 ± 6.54 mL, 42.37 ± 7.02 mL, and 47.54 ± 6.69 mL, respectively. The residual urine volume of T3 and T4 patients was markedly superior to that of T1 and T2 patients (P < 0.05), and T4 was markedly superior to T3 (P < 0.05). Conclusion In summary, different TNM stages and degrees of tumor invasion had certain effects on the prognosis of BC patients, and the prognosis of patients can be preliminarily predicted and evaluated by tumor TNM stages.