One of the best systematic therapies for prostate cancer is to lower the hormone levels in the patient. Lowering the hormones that stimulate the growth of prostate cancer cells usually result in the cancer shrinking or growing more slowly.
The problem with the hormonal treatments is that they usually stop working because the cancer cells become resistant over time. The researchers at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine have found a protein that is involved in the survival strategy of the cancer cell.
Researchers understanding the mechanisms that are at work in the cell that leads to the resistance of hormonal treatments is promising. This could lead to understanding why other treatments like chemotherapy also stop working over time.
