Work

Stem Cells as Hormone Targets That Lead to Increased Cancer Susceptibility

Year: 2015

Type: article

Abstract: Major advances during the past decade have permitted a clearer understanding of processes that regulate stem cell self-renewal and lineage commitment toward differentiated progeny that populate all tissues. Considerable evidence has also accumulated to indicate that aberrations in the stem and progenitor cell populations can lead to increased cancer risk in specific organs systems. It is long recognized that environmental factors play a major role in cancer etiology, and emerging data suggest that endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may contribute to an increased cancer risk. Using the prostate gland as a model system, the present review highlights recent data that find that estrogens and EDCs can reprogram prostate stem and progenitor cell populations, leading to increased cancer susceptibility. We propose that stem cell programming during early development in hormone-regulated tissues may lead to heightened sensitivity to early-life EDC exposures and that aberrant stem cell reprogramming by EDCs may contribute to the developmental basis of adult cancer risk.

Source: Endocrinology

DOI: 10.1210/en.2015-1357

Authors: Gail S. Prins, Esther L. Calderon-Gierszal, Wen-Yang Hu

Institution: University of Illinois Chicago

Language: English

Topic: Prostate Cancer Treatment and Research

Subfield: Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences