Molecular Cancer: Austrian researchers discover drivers of prostate cancer metastasis

Prostate cancer is the second most common malignancy in men worldwide and is projected to surpass lung cancer in incidence over the next decade

Researchers at the Medical University of Vienna (MedUni Vienna) in Austria have discovered a specific change in a protein

In this study, the researchers explored the role of the KMT2C protein in prostate cancer

The researchers from the Medical University of Vienna first analyzed the effect of Kmt2c SET domain deletion using a mouse model of prostate cancer, and then analyzed the effect of KMT2C truncating mutations in a large number of prostate cancer patients

We therefore identified a truncation event of KMT2C as a driver of cell proliferation and prostate intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) formation

"Our study contributes to understanding the transition from localized to advanced metastatic prostate cancer," says corresponding author Lukas Kenner, from the Department of Pathology at the Medical University of Vienna

KMT2C mutation status can be determined by blood tests, which promises to enable early diagnosis of aggressive prostate cancer progression

The MYC inhibitor is essentially a new type of cancer treatment that is already being tested in clinical trials and has the potential to be used in metastatic prostate cancer in the coming years if further research confirms this

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Limberger, T.