Disseminated prostate cancer cells in bone

Most castrate-resistant prostate cancer patients develop bone metastases, and standard androgen deprivation therapy causes bone loss. Whether this treatment-induced bone microenvironment change affects disseminated tumour cells, thereby stimulating bone metastasis development, is not known. Ottewell and colleagues used an in vivo model to mimic androgen ablation, finding increased bone resorption and loss of bone volume, compared with controls. In addition, the growth and metastasis  of disseminated tumour cells was triggered. Weekly administration of zoledronic acid prevented this tumour growth, but did not eliminate disseminated tumour cells. This is the first demonstration that mimicking androgen ablation results in disseminated tumour cell growth via osteoclast-mediated mechanisms, and provides the first biological evidence to support zoledronic acid administration during androgen ablation to prevent bone relapse.

Read the full article at Ottewell et al. (2014) Endocrine-Related Cancer 21 769–781. DOI:10.1530/ERC-14-0199