[New insights of vitamin D-based therapy for prostate cancer].

Abstract

Prostate cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related death among men in developed countries. Hormone and chemotherapy are the standard of care for advanced prostate cancer, but most patients develop resistance. Therefore, new therapeutic strategies are needed to improve the clinical management of prostate cancer. Low circulating levels of the secosteroid hormone vitamin D, and reduced expression of its receptor in prostate epithelial cells correlate with prostate cancer severity. However, the mechanisms underlying the anticancer effects of vitamin D are poorly understood. Our recent work demonstrates the therapeutic effects of a vitamin D analog on the tumor microenvironment in Pten^(i)pe-/- mice, a mouse model of prostate cancer. In addition, we have shown that the combination of a vitamin D analog with the chemotherapeutic agent docetaxel, overcomes chemoresistance in primary prostate cancer spheroids, and in xenografts derived from a patient with prostate cancer resistant to docetaxel and to androgen deprivation. Therefore, therapeutic strategies based on the use of vitamin D analogs represent new avenues for advanced prostate cancer.