Current experimental human tissue‐derived models for prostate cancer research

Abstract

Scientists engaged in prostate cancer research have been conducting experiments using two‐dimensional cultures of prostate cancer cell lines for decades. However, these experiments fail to reproduce and reflect the clinical course of individual patients with prostate cancer, or the molecular and genetic characteristics of prostate cancer, the basic requirement for most of the preclinical studies on prostate cancer. The use of human prostate cancer tissues in experiments has enabled the collection and verification of clinically relevant data, including chemical reactions, changes in proteins, and specific gene expression. Tissue recombination models have been employed for studying prostate development, the initiation and progression of prostate cancer, and the tumor microenvironment. Notably, the epithelial–stromal interaction, which might play a critical role in prostate cancer pathogenesis, can be reproduced in this model. Patient‐derived xenograft models have been developed as powerful avatars comprising patient‐derived prostate cancer tissues implanted in immunocompromised mice and could serve as a precision medicine approach for each prostate cancer patient. Spheroid and organoid assays, representative of modern three‐dimensional cultures, can replicate the conditions in human prostate tumors and the prostate organ itself as a miniature model. Although an intact immune system against the tumor is missing from the models aimed at investigating immuno‐oncological reagents in various malignancies, all these experimental models can help researchers in developing new drugs and selecting appropriate treatment strategies for prostate cancer patients.

Prostate fibroblasts enhance androgen receptor splice variant 7 expression in prostate cancer cells

“…Within the tumor microenvironment, tumor‐stromal interactions likely play critical roles in PCa initiation and aggressiveness 9 . During cancer progression, cancer cells generate cancer‐associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in the tumor microenvironment, whose precise origin is still unclear.…”

“…Within the tumor microenvironment, tumor-stromal interactions likely play critical roles in PCa initiation and aggressiveness. 9 During cancer progression, cancer cells generate cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in the tumor microenvironment, whose precise origin is still unclear. CAFs may arise from different single or combined sources (e.g., phenotypic alterations of resident fibroblasts, mesenchymal transformation of the endothelium, migration of pericytes, and incorporation of stromal cells from the bone marrow).…”

ΔPSap4#5 surface-functionalized abiraterone-loaded nanoparticle successfully inhibits carcinogen-induced prostate cancer in mice: a mechanistic investigation

“…Preclinical data in a carcinogen-induced prostate cancer animal model are very scarce. Few such data are available in the immune-compromised prostate cancer animal xenograft model (Kato et al 2021;Lawrence et al 2015). However, there is no report so far available for aptamer-mediated drug targeting at the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) overexpressed in chemically induced prostate cancer in mice.…”

The anti-inflammatory properties of the methanolic extract of Cucumis melo Linn. against prostate enlargement in Wistar rats

“…A variety of new methods are available nowadays to decrease the size of enlarged prostates ( Le et al, 2020 ). The prostate gland is a mixture of capsular tissue and stromal tissue, with a high concentration of androgen receptors ( Kato et al, 2021 ). These receptors and oestrogen can be used to target drug therapy ( Yu et al, 2020 ).…”