ESOU: Zoran Culig on TMPRSS:ERG fusion and short androgen receptors

The 11th Meeting of the EAU Section of Oncological Urology is taking place next week, kicking off on the 17 January in Prague. We have approached on of the meeting’s prominent speakers to comment on the take-home messages of his presentation. Prof. Zoran Culig (Innsbruck, AT) emphasised the main discussion points concerning TMPRSS:ERG fusion and short androgen receptors.

“Although not all of the publications agree, most of them suggest that there is a negative prognostic role of TMPRSS:ERG fusion in prostate cancer. In vitro experiments revealed that the fusion is associated with migration and invasion. It is therefore understandable that the fusion could be associated with a shorter patient survival.

I will also focus on constitutively active androgen receptors (AR) which are detected in prostate tissue. Many of them could be detected after therapy and the activation in the absence of ligand is of primary importance. They all lack the ligand-binding domain and do not need androgen to be activated.

These changes may be followed in primary tumors. At present, there is little information about their expression in bone. However, they have a substantial impact on prognosis of prostate cancer.

Visit the meeting’s website for more information and to register.