Extracellular vesicles and prostate cancer management: a narrative review

Abstract

Background and Objective Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most common male cancer in the United States. Although new drugs have recently been approved, clinical challenges remain, notably the precise detection and prognostic implications of drug-resistant PCa. Extracellular vesicles (EVs), nanoscale lipid membrane vesicles, are actively secreted into the extracellular milieu by a variety of cell types. Over the past decade, interest in EVs has grown, and emerging evidence suggests that EVs play pivotal roles in cancer biology. In this review, we would like to summarize recent reports on EVs in PCa and discuss the potential clinical applications. Methods We performed a non-systematic literature review using the PubMed database to identify articles specifically related to EVs and PCa management. Key Content and Findings EVs contain pathogenic components, such as proteins, DNA fragments, mRNA, non-coding RNA, and lipids, all of which can trigger intercellular signaling within tumor microenvironments. Thereby, EVs exert significant effects on several stages of cancer progression, influencing the immune system, angiogenesis, and the establishment of pre-metastatic niches. Furthermore, as EVs are encapsulated, their contents are stable in bodily fluids, and thus EVs have recently attracted attention as a novel kind of liquid biopsy. Conclusions We have summarized recent research on how EVs may aid PCa management. To date, we have discovered only the tip of the iceberg. We anticipate that further research will yield innovative therapeutic modalities, thereby aiding all PCa patients.

Therapeutic potential of extracellular vesicles from diverse sources in cancer treatment

“…As crucial intermediaries of intercellular communication within the TME, EVs are endowed with copious bioinformatics that encompass proteins, small molecule metabolites, and lipids [ 21 ]. These chemicals have a multifaceted and crucial function in the tumor microenvironment, promoting cell maturation and significantly enhancing cell invasion and metastasis [ 21 , 22 ].…”

“…As crucial intermediaries of intercellular communication within the TME, EVs are endowed with copious bioinformatics that encompass proteins, small molecule metabolites, and lipids [ 21 ]. These chemicals have a multifaceted and crucial function in the tumor microenvironment, promoting cell maturation and significantly enhancing cell invasion and metastasis [ 21 , 22 ]. EVs also promote various aspects of cancer progression, including angiogenesis [ 22 ] and anticancer resistance [ 23 ], and aiding tumor cells in evading detection by the immune system [ 24 ].…”