| DEVELOPMENT OF CELL CULTURE
SYSTEMS TO STUDY BONE METASTASIS IN PROSTATE CANCER
Dr A A G Bryden, A M Scutt, N Scutt, C L Eaton, B Thomas, F C Hamdy Academic Urology Unit, University of Sheffield |
This study looked at the interaction between bone marrow cells and prostate cancer cells; it endeavoured to answer the question: why do prostate cancer cells grow well in bone marrow and why do they survive so well when they've metastasized to the marrow?
Prostate cancer cells often metastasize (lodge in) bone; this study developed cell culture systems to look at the interaction between the bone marrow and prostate cancer (CaP) cells. Bone marrow samples were taken from 20 patients with CaP and the marrow cells were grown under laboratory conditions; unfortunately, the researchers could not get CaP cells to grow but they demonstrated high levels of a protein marker, osteoprogeritin (OPG) arising from the bone marrow. They have shown that OPG prevents the cytokene, TNF, from killing CaP cells. In turn, patients with advanced CaP have raised levels of OPG and they suggest this is a factor in enhancing CaP surviving in the skeleton.
This study has also looked at other ways the bone marrow facilitates its colonization by CaP and this is responsible for the initiation of further research. The researchers have also developed a large library of OPG levels in serum from CaP patients and this will provide a valuable resoure for future research.
Research summarised by Prostate Research Campaign UK, 20 June 2005.
Project 2001/04.