Topic: Genetics and Epigenetics of Prostate Cancer: from Etiology to Treatment

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of death in men and its development and progression is dependent on androgens/androgen receptor. The etiology of prostate cancer still remains elusive with genetic, epigenetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors associated with increased disease risk. The post-genome era research on prostate cancer has identified genetic variations associated with the disease including potential germline polymorphisms and allelic imbalances linked with prostate cancer susceptibility. Epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA hyper- or hypo- methylation, histone modifications and involvement of non-coding RNAs in gene transcription permit unchanging inheritance of phenotypes without changes in the DNA sequence. Such epigenetic modifications are developed as biomarkers for early detection, stratification and risk assessment of prostate cancer. In addition, current treatment options and novel drug combinations have strong potential for durable therapeutic responses and eventual cures for advanced disease. Improved disease management will also benefit from artificial intelligence-based decision support for disease prognosis and appropriate standard of care to minimize overtreatment of localized disease, and new standards of care augmented by next-generation adaptive clinical trials. The aim of this Special Issue on prostate cancer is to provide an updated knowledge on the epidemiology, etiology, diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer.

Prostate Cancer, genetics, epigenetics

31 Mar 2021