Prostate adenocarcinoma is the predominant histologic form of prostate cancer, arising from prostatic glandular epithelium and maintained by androgen receptor-centered transcriptional programs. Its biology spans indolent localized tumors, molecularly defined aggressive subtypes with PTEN loss or TMPRSS2:ERG fusion, and advanced states marked by metastatic dissemination, signaling bypass, and relative immune quiescence.
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name: Prostate Adenocarcinoma
creation_date: '2026-04-12T05:10:57Z'
description: >-
Prostate adenocarcinoma is the predominant histologic form of prostate cancer,
arising from prostatic glandular epithelium and maintained by androgen
receptor-centered transcriptional programs. Its biology spans indolent
localized tumors, molecularly defined aggressive subtypes with PTEN loss or
TMPRSS2:ERG fusion, and advanced states marked by metastatic dissemination,
signaling bypass, and relative immune quiescence.
categories:
- Genitourinary Cancer
- Adenocarcinoma
- Solid Tumor
parents:
- prostate cancer
disease_term:
preferred_term: prostate adenocarcinoma
term:
id: MONDO:0005082
label: prostate adenocarcinoma
prevalence:
- population: Prostate cancers
percentage: 99
notes: Adenocarcinoma accounts for virtually all prostate cancer histologies.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:40063046
reference_title: "Prostate Cancer: A Review."
supports: SUPPORT
snippet: "The most common type of prostate cancer is adenocarcinoma (≥99%), and the median age at diagnosis is 67 years."
explanation: This abstract explicitly states that adenocarcinoma comprises at least 99% of prostate cancers.
- population: Newly diagnosed prostate cancer
percentage: 75
notes: Most patients present with disease still localized to the prostate.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:40063046
reference_title: "Prostate Cancer: A Review."
supports: SUPPORT
snippet: "At diagnosis, approximately 75% of patients have cancer localized to the prostate, which is associated with a 5-year survival rate of nearly 100%."
explanation: This provides the stage distribution at presentation for prostate cancer, which is overwhelmingly adenocarcinoma.
stages:
- name: Localized
description: >-
Organ-confined or locoregional adenocarcinoma, frequently indolent enough
for risk-adapted surveillance, and curable with radical prostatectomy or
radiotherapy.
- name: Metastatic
description: >-
Advanced prostate adenocarcinoma that has spread beyond the prostate and
regional lymph nodes, most commonly to bone, lymph node, liver, and lung.
The metastatic state is sustained by persistent androgen receptor
signaling, lineage plasticity under treatment pressure, osteoblastic bone
tropism, and progressive emergence of castration resistance.
notes: >-
Folded in from the former Metastatic_Prostate_Cancer entry (cancer
granularity ladder, design decisions §3a). Bone metastasis is the defining
metastatic phenotype, but liver and lung involvement become more common in
late castration-resistant disease; the central biologic transition is
continued AR dependence followed by adaptive AR-independent escape. The
Osteoblastic Bone Tropism and Clonal Evolution and Lineage Plasticity
pathophysiology nodes carry the stage-specific mechanism content.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:40063046
reference_title: "Prostate Cancer: A Review."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: Approximately 10% of patients present with metastatic prostate cancer, which has a 5-year survival rate of 37%.
explanation: Quantifies presentation frequency and survival for the metastatic stage.
pathophysiology:
- name: Androgen Receptor Signaling Dependence
description: >-
Prostate adenocarcinoma is organized around androgen receptor (AR) signaling,
which sustains lineage identity, proliferation, and survival and therefore
remains the dominant therapeutic dependency across much of the disease course.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:34771580
reference_title: 'Androgen Receptor Signaling in Prostate Cancer and Therapeutic Strategies.'
supports: SUPPORT
snippet: "Understanding of the molecular mechanisms of prostate cancer has led to development of therapeutic strategies targeting androgen receptor (AR)."
explanation: The abstract identifies AR as the central mechanistic axis that has driven therapy development in prostate cancer.
cell_types:
- preferred_term: epithelial cell of prostate
term:
id: CL:0002231
label: epithelial cell of prostate
biological_processes:
- preferred_term: androgen receptor signaling pathway
modifier: INCREASED
term:
id: GO:0030521
label: androgen receptor signaling pathway
locations:
- preferred_term: prostate gland
term:
id: UBERON:0002367
label: prostate gland
downstream:
- target: Lipogenic Metabolic Reprogramming
description: AR activation promotes anabolic lipid metabolism that supports tumor growth.
- target: Signaling Bypass and Castration Resistance
description: Treatment pressure selects AR-reactivated and AR-bypass states.
- target: TMPRSS2:ERG Fusion-Driven ETS Activation
description: >-
Androgen-responsive TMPRSS2 promoter elements drive aberrant ERG
overexpression in the roughly half of tumors carrying the fusion.
- name: TMPRSS2:ERG Fusion-Driven ETS Activation
description: >-
In approximately half of prostate adenocarcinomas an androgen-responsive
TMPRSS2 promoter is fused to the ETS transcription factor ERG, placing ERG
under androgen control and driving its aberrant overexpression. The
resulting ETS transcriptional program promotes an invasion-associated,
less-differentiated phenotype and defines the predominant molecular subtype
of the disease.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:16254181
reference_title: 'Recurrent fusion of TMPRSS2 and ETS transcription factor genes in prostate cancer.'
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "we demonstrated that 23 of 29 prostate cancer samples harbor rearrangements in ERG or ETV1"
explanation: Fluorescence in situ hybridization in human prostate cancer tissue established recurrent ERG/ETV1 rearrangements as a frequent somatic event.
- reference: PMID:16254181
reference_title: 'Recurrent fusion of TMPRSS2 and ETS transcription factor genes in prostate cancer.'
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: IN_VITRO
snippet: "Cell line experiments suggest that the androgen-responsive promoter elements of TMPRSS2 mediate the overexpression of ETS family members in prostate cancer."
explanation: This identifies the androgen-driven TMPRSS2 promoter as the mechanism placing ETS factors such as ERG under aberrant transcriptional control.
- reference: PMID:18283340
reference_title: 'Role of the TMPRSS2-ERG gene fusion in prostate cancer.'
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: IN_VITRO
snippet: "Introduction of the ERG gene fusion product into primary or immortalized benign prostate epithelial cells induced an invasion-associated transcriptional program but did not increase cellular proliferation or anchorage-independent growth."
explanation: Functional introduction of the ERG fusion product activates an invasion-associated transcriptional program, indicating the fusion contributes to invasion rather than proliferation.
cell_types:
- preferred_term: epithelial cell of prostate
term:
id: CL:0002231
label: epithelial cell of prostate
biological_processes:
- preferred_term: ETS (ERG) target gene transcriptional activation
modifier: INCREASED
term:
id: GO:0045944
label: positive regulation of transcription by RNA polymerase II
locations:
- preferred_term: prostate gland
term:
id: UBERON:0002367
label: prostate gland
downstream:
- target: Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition
description: >-
ERG-driven invasion-associated transcriptional reprogramming promotes the
invasive cellular phenotype that precedes distant spread.
- name: Lipogenic Metabolic Reprogramming
description: >-
Prostate adenocarcinoma shows unusually strong dependence on de novo fatty
acid synthesis, an AR-linked metabolic program that supports membrane
biogenesis, signaling, and aggressive tumor behavior.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:34145040
reference_title: 'Fatty Acid Synthesis in Prostate Cancer: Vulnerability or Epiphenomenon?'
supports: SUPPORT
snippet: "Prostate cancer exhibits unique metabolism with high rates of de novo fatty acid synthesis driven by activation of the androgen receptor (AR)."
explanation: This directly supports AR-driven lipogenic reprogramming as a core metabolic feature of prostate cancer.
biological_processes:
- preferred_term: fatty acid biosynthetic process
modifier: INCREASED
term:
id: GO:0006633
label: fatty acid biosynthetic process
- name: Signaling Bypass and Castration Resistance
conforms_to: "mtor_androgen_deprivation_resistance#mTORC1 Hyperactivation"
description: >-
As disease progresses under androgen deprivation, resistant clones emerge
through AR splice variants, AR overexpression or mutation, and activation of
PI3K/AKT and other compensatory pathways that restore growth despite ARSI therapy.
This node conforms to the mtor_androgen_deprivation_resistance module: AR-pathway
blockade relieves feedback inhibition of the PI3K/AKT axis (potentiated by PTEN
loss in this disease), driving compensatory mTORC1 hyperactivation that sustains
survival under androgen blockade — the biological basis for the co-targeting
(mTOR-inhibitor plus ARPI) therapeutic rationale.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:34771580
reference_title: 'Androgen Receptor Signaling in Prostate Cancer and Therapeutic Strategies.'
supports: SUPPORT
snippet: "DNA repair pathway, PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, BRAF-MAPK and Wnt signaling pathway and activation by glucocorticoid receptors can restore downstream signaling in prostate cancer by alternative proteins."
explanation: This abstract sentence directly describes the bypass pathways that support AR-independent or incompletely AR-dependent progression.
- reference: PMID:21575859
reference_title: "Reciprocal feedback regulation of PI3K and androgen receptor signaling in PTEN-deficient prostate cancer."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: MODEL_ORGANISM
snippet: >-
Similarly, AR inhibition activates AKT signaling by reducing levels of
the AKT phosphatase PHLPP. Thus, these two oncogenic pathways
cross-regulate each other by reciprocal feedback. Inhibition of one
activates the other, thereby maintaining tumor cell survival.
explanation: >-
Demonstrates the reciprocal AR-PI3K/AKT feedback in prostate cancer models
that converts AR blockade into compensatory PI3K/AKT (and downstream mTORC1)
activation; folded in from the former Metastatic_Prostate_Cancer entry.
- reference: PMID:30535926
reference_title: "Enzalutamide: A Review in Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: Oral enzalutamide (Xtandi®), a second generation androgen receptor inhibitor, is indicated for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) in numerous countries worldwide, with specific indications in this patient population varying between individual countries.
explanation: Supports the continued centrality of AR signaling in metastatic castration-resistant disease.
biological_processes:
- preferred_term: phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B signal transduction
modifier: INCREASED
term:
id: GO:0043491
label: phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B signal transduction
- preferred_term: TORC1 Signaling
modifier: INCREASED
term:
id: GO:0038202
label: TORC1 signaling
downstream:
- target: Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition
description: Resistant signaling states promote invasive cellular reprogramming that precedes distant spread.
- target: Clonal Evolution and Lineage Plasticity
description: Treatment pressure selects resistant subclones and alternative cell states.
- name: Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition
conforms_to: "invasion_and_metastasis#Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition Activation"
description: >-
Progression from organ-confined adenocarcinoma toward invasive disease
involves signaling networks that promote epithelial-to-mesenchymal
transition and increased migratory capacity.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:40372974
reference_title: 'Signalling pathways in a nutshell: from pathogenesis to therapeutical implications in prostate cancer.'
supports: SUPPORT
snippet: "Particular pathways that allow cells to proliferate by creating a network of new blood vessels have been documented, whereas other pathways are primarily involved with a migration to distant body parts, partially through the process of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)."
explanation: This review abstract explicitly links prostate cancer progression and distant spread to EMT-related signaling pathways.
biological_processes:
- preferred_term: epithelial to mesenchymal transition
modifier: INCREASED
term:
id: GO:0001837
label: epithelial to mesenchymal transition
downstream:
- target: Metastatic Dissemination
description: EMT-like reprogramming supports invasion and subsequent distant spread.
- name: Metastatic Dissemination
description: >-
Advanced prostate adenocarcinoma can disseminate beyond the prostate to
distant metastatic sites as disease progresses or recurs after definitive
local therapy.
downstream:
- target: Osteoblastic Bone Tropism
description: >-
Disseminated prostate cancer cells preferentially colonize bone, where
tumor-stromal signaling produces the characteristic osteoblastic lesions.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:40063046
reference_title: "Prostate Cancer: A Review."
supports: SUPPORT
snippet: "Despite definitive therapy, 2% to 56% of men with localized disease develop distant metastases, depending on tumor risk factors."
explanation: This directly supports progression from initially localized prostate cancer to distant metastatic dissemination.
- name: Immune-Suppressive Tumor Microenvironment
description: >-
Prostate adenocarcinoma typically has a relatively immunologically cold
microenvironment with weak endogenous antitumor activity, contributing to the
limited single-agent activity of checkpoint immunotherapy in unselected disease.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33106940
reference_title: 'Immunotherapy in prostate cancer: new horizon of hurdles and hopes.'
supports: SUPPORT
snippet: "Tumor progression and patient outcomes depend on complex cellular and molecular interactions of the tumor with the host immune system, driven rather dormant in case of PCa."
explanation: This supports the relatively dormant immune contexture of prostate cancer and the importance of tumor-immune interactions.
biological_processes:
- preferred_term: negative regulation of immune response
modifier: INCREASED
term:
id: GO:0050777
label: negative regulation of immune response
- name: Osteoblastic Bone Tropism
description: >-
Bone is the dominant metastatic niche in prostate cancer. Tumor-stromal signaling
stimulates abnormal woven bone formation and couples osteoblastic and osteolytic
remodeling, producing fragile but radiographically dense skeletal lesions.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:18639279
reference_title: "Histopathological assessment of prostate cancer bone osteoblastic metastases."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: In contrast with metastases caused by other carcinomas such as breast, thyroid, kidney, and lung that destroy bone and are termed “osteolytic,” prostate cancer generally causes a bone-forming or “osteoblastic” response.
explanation: This directly supports the osteoblastic bone tropism that distinguishes metastatic prostate cancer.
biological_processes:
- preferred_term: positive regulation of ossification
modifier: INCREASED
term:
id: GO:0045778
label: positive regulation of ossification
- name: Clonal Evolution and Lineage Plasticity
description: >-
Under treatment pressure, metastatic prostate cancer accumulates resistant subclones
and can adopt alternative lineage states that support persistence after AR-targeted
therapy.
biological_processes:
- preferred_term: cell fate commitment
modifier: ABNORMAL
term:
id: GO:0045165
label: cell fate commitment
histopathology:
- name: Acinar Adenocarcinoma
finding_term:
preferred_term: Prostate Acinar Adenocarcinoma
term:
id: NCIT:C5596
label: Prostate Acinar Adenocarcinoma
description: >-
Classic acinar adenocarcinoma is the dominant morphologic pattern in prostate
adenocarcinoma and the reference point against which less common glandular and
non-glandular variants are compared.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:36081403
reference_title: 'Histological patterns, subtypes and aspects of prostate cancer: different aspects, different outcomes.'
supports: SUPPORT
snippet: "The most common prostatic cancers (PCa) are acinary adenocarcinomas."
explanation: This directly supports acinar adenocarcinoma as the dominant histology among prostate cancers.
phenotypes:
- category: Genitourinary
name: Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms
phenotype_term:
preferred_term: Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms
description: >-
Localized tumors can present with obstructive or irritative urinary symptoms
including frequency, nocturia, hesitancy, and dysuria.
notes: Composite LUTS phenotype spanning urinary frequency, nocturia, hesitancy, and dysuria; no single precise HPO term is assigned here.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:42074717
reference_title: 'Prevalence of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia and Prostate Cancer Among Men Presenting with Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms at a Tertiary Referral Hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study.'
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTSs) are among the most common urological complaints in older men, frequently arising from benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) or prostate cancer (PCa)."
explanation: This supports lower urinary tract symptoms as a common presenting complaint that can arise from prostate cancer.
- category: Genitourinary
name: Hematuria
description: Gross or microscopic hematuria may occur, particularly with more locally advanced disease.
phenotype_term:
preferred_term: Hematuria
term:
id: HP:0000790
label: Hematuria
evidence:
- reference: PMID:41134363
reference_title: 'Prostatic artery embolization for palliative control of hematuria in locally advanced or metastatic prostate cancer: a systematic review.'
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "Prostatic artery embolization (PAE) has emerged as a minimally invasive option for the palliative control of hematuria in locally advanced or metastatic prostate cancer."
explanation: This supports hematuria as a clinically significant manifestation of locally advanced or metastatic prostate cancer.
- category: Musculoskeletal
name: Bone Pain
description: >-
Bone pain is a characteristic complication of metastatic spread and often
signals advanced disease with skeletal involvement.
phenotype_term:
preferred_term: Bone pain
term:
id: HP:0002653
label: Bone pain
evidence:
- reference: PMID:39169855
reference_title: 'Role of osteoclast inhibitors in prostate cancer bone metastasis; a narrative review.'
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "Prostate cancer metastasizes most commonly to the skeleton thus leading to significant morbidity ranging from pain, pathological fractures to spinal cord compression and are the primary cause of patient disability and reduced quality of life."
explanation: This supports bone pain as a characteristic morbidity of skeletal metastasis in prostate cancer.
- category: Constitutional
name: Fatigue
description: Fatigue accompanies advanced disease burden, anemia, and systemic therapy effects.
phenotype_term:
preferred_term: Fatigue
term:
id: HP:0012378
label: Fatigue
evidence:
- reference: PMID:39761938
reference_title: 'Efficacy and safety of PARP inhibitors in prostate cancer: An umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.'
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "PARPi therapies increased the incidence of adverse events (AEs), including fatigue, nausea, anemia, neutropenia, and thrombocytopenia."
explanation: This supports fatigue (alongside anemia) as a systemic therapy effect in prostate cancer, consistent with fatigue as a treatment-related manifestation.
- category: Musculoskeletal
name: Back pain
frequency: FREQUENT
description: Vertebral metastases may present with back pain and impending cord compression.
phenotype_term:
preferred_term: Back pain
term:
id: HP:0003418
label: Back pain
- category: Musculoskeletal
name: Recurrent fractures
frequency: OCCASIONAL
description: Pathologic fractures reflect fragile metastatic bone despite its osteoblastic appearance.
phenotype_term:
preferred_term: Recurrent fractures
term:
id: HP:0002757
label: Recurrent fractures
biochemical:
- name: Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA)
notes: >-
PSA remains the core serum biomarker for screening discussions, risk
stratification, treatment monitoring, and surveillance after therapy.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:40063046
reference_title: "Prostate Cancer: A Review."
supports: SUPPORT
snippet: "Recent guidelines encourage shared decision-making for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening."
explanation: This supports PSA as the key biomarker around which screening and early detection decisions are organized.
- name: Plasma testosterone
context: >-
Pharmacodynamic marker of androgen deprivation in advanced prostate cancer;
suppression toward castrate levels indicates reduced androgen ligand drive.
readouts:
- target: Androgen Receptor Signaling Dependence
relationship: PHARMACODYNAMIC_MARKER_OF
direction: POSITIVE
endpoint_context: PHARMACODYNAMIC
regulatory_endpoint_refs:
- FDA-SE-adult-cancer-015
interpretation: >-
Higher plasma testosterone indicates greater androgen ligand availability
for AR signaling, whereas effective GnRH-antagonist therapy suppresses
testosterone as the pharmacodynamic endpoint.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:40063046
reference_title: "Prostate Cancer: A Review."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: Treatment of metastatic prostate cancer primarily relies on androgen deprivation therapy, most commonly through medical castration with gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists.
explanation: >-
This review supports testosterone suppression through medical castration
as a central pharmacodynamic mechanism in metastatic prostate cancer.
- reference: PMID:34771580
reference_title: "Androgen Receptor Signaling in Prostate Cancer and Therapeutic Strategies."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: Understanding of the molecular mechanisms of prostate cancer has led to development of therapeutic strategies targeting androgen receptor (AR).
explanation: >-
This review supports the linked AR-signaling pathograph node that plasma
testosterone pharmacodynamically reports on.
genetic:
- name: TMPRSS2:ERG
association: Somatic fusion-driven ETS activation
notes: >-
TMPRSS2:ERG fusion defines a major molecular subtype of prostate adenocarcinoma
and often co-occurs with other structural alterations including PTEN loss.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:40165885
reference_title: 'Exploring therapeutic applications of PTEN, TMPRSS2:ERG fusion, and tumour molecular subtypes in prostate cancer management.'
supports: SUPPORT
snippet: "Prostate cancer can be categorised into various risk groups of tumour molecular subtypes grounded in the idea of genomic structural variations connected to TMPRSS2:ERG fusion and loss of PTEN."
explanation: This directly links TMPRSS2:ERG fusion to prostate cancer molecular subtypes.
- name: PTEN
gene_term:
preferred_term: PTEN
term:
id: hgnc:9588
label: PTEN
association: Somatic loss or deletion
notes: >-
PTEN loss relieves restraint on PI3K/AKT signaling and is associated with
aneuploidy, aggressive pathology, and metastatic progression.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:29308088
reference_title: 'Distinct subtypes of genomic PTEN deletion size influence the landscape of aneuploidy and outcome in prostate cancer.'
evidence_source: COMPUTATIONAL
supports: SUPPORT
snippet: "PTEN homozygous deletions had a significant increase in aneuploidy compared to PTEN tumors without an apparent deletion, and hemizygous deletions showed an intermediate aneuploidy profile."
explanation: This supports PTEN loss as a biologically consequential event associated with chromosomal instability in prostate cancer.
- name: AR
gene_term:
preferred_term: AR
term:
id: hgnc:644
label: AR
association: Amplification, activating mutation, or splice variant expression during progression
notes: >-
Advanced prostate adenocarcinoma frequently reacquires AR signaling through
overexpression, mutation, or splice variants such as AR-V7.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:34771580
reference_title: 'Androgen Receptor Signaling in Prostate Cancer and Therapeutic Strategies.'
supports: SUPPORT
snippet: "Even weaker signals and non-canonical steroid ligands can activate AR in the presence of truncated AR-splice variants, AR overexpression, or activating mutations in AR."
explanation: This abstract sentence directly supports AR reactivation through amplification, mutation, and splice variants in progressive disease.
- name: TP53
gene_term:
preferred_term: TP53
term:
id: hgnc:11998
label: TP53
association: Somatic loss of function
notes: TP53 loss contributes to lineage plasticity and treatment resistance.
- name: RB1
gene_term:
preferred_term: RB1
term:
id: hgnc:9884
label: RB1
association: Somatic loss of function
notes: RB1 loss cooperates with TP53 loss in aggressive, dedifferentiated metastatic states.
- name: MITF
gene_term:
preferred_term: MITF
term:
id: hgnc:7105
label: MITF
association: Gain-of-function E318K mutation
notes: E318K gain-of-function mutation enhances MITF transcriptional activity and may drive aggressive disease phenotypes. Previously implicated in melanoma and renal cell carcinoma, this mutation was first reported in a single case of metastatic prostate adenocarcinoma with high tumor burden and rapid progression.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:42220083
reference_title: "MITF Gain-of-Function Mutation in Metastatic Prostate Cancer: A Rare Finding With Potential Therapeutic Significance."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "We report the first case of metastatic prostate adenocarcinoma harboring a gain-of-function MITF E318K mutation. The patient presented with high tumor burden, rapid progression, and evidence of tumor heterogeneity. The E318K mutation, previously linked to melanoma and renal cell carcinoma, enhances MITF transcriptional activity and may contribute to aggressive disease behavior."
explanation: "First documented case of MITF E318K gain-of-function mutation in metastatic prostate cancer, expanding understanding of MITF's role in aggressive prostate cancer variants."
treatments:
- name: Radical Prostatectomy
description: Surgical resection is a standard definitive option for higher-risk localized disease.
therapeutic_modality: SURGERY
treatment_term:
preferred_term: surgical procedure
term:
id: NCIT:C15329
label: Surgical Procedure
evidence:
- reference: PMID:40063046
reference_title: "Prostate Cancer: A Review."
supports: SUPPORT
snippet: "For patients with higher-risk disease, radiation therapy or radical prostatectomy are reasonable options"
explanation: This directly supports radical prostatectomy as a standard treatment option for localized higher-risk disease.
- name: Radiation Therapy
description: External beam or related radiation approaches are standard definitive therapy for localized disease.
therapeutic_modality: RADIOTHERAPY
treatment_term:
preferred_term: Radiation Therapy
term:
id: NCIT:C15313
label: Radiation Therapy
evidence:
- reference: PMID:40063046
reference_title: "Prostate Cancer: A Review."
supports: SUPPORT
snippet: "For patients with higher-risk disease, radiation therapy or radical prostatectomy are reasonable options"
explanation: The abstract explicitly names radiation therapy as a standard option for higher-risk localized disease.
- name: Androgen Deprivation Therapy
description: >-
Medical castration with gonadotropin-releasing hormone pathway suppression is
the backbone of systemic therapy for metastatic hormone-sensitive disease.
treatment_term:
preferred_term: androgen deprivation therapy
term:
id: NCIT:C15445
label: Hormone Therapy
evidence:
- reference: PMID:40063046
reference_title: "Prostate Cancer: A Review."
supports: SUPPORT
snippet: "Treatment of metastatic prostate cancer primarily relies on androgen deprivation therapy, most commonly through medical castration with gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists."
explanation: This identifies androgen deprivation as the core systemic therapy backbone in metastatic disease.
- name: Abiraterone Acetate
description: >-
CYP17-mediated androgen synthesis inhibition improves survival in metastatic
castration-resistant prostate adenocarcinoma and is also used earlier in metastatic disease.
treatment_term:
preferred_term: Pharmacotherapy
term:
id: NCIT:C15986
label: Pharmacotherapy
therapeutic_agent:
- preferred_term: abiraterone
term:
id: CHEBI:68642
label: abiraterone
evidence:
- reference: PMID:21612468
reference_title: 'Abiraterone and increased survival in metastatic prostate cancer.'
supports: SUPPORT
snippet: "After a median follow-up of 12.8 months, overall survival was longer in the abiraterone acetate-prednisone group than in the placebo-prednisone group (14.8 months vs. 10.9 months; hazard ratio, 0.65; 95% confidence interval, 0.54 to 0.77; P<0.001)."
explanation: This pivotal trial abstract demonstrates an overall survival benefit for abiraterone in metastatic castration-resistant disease.
- name: Enzalutamide
description: >-
Second-generation androgen receptor inhibition is effective across nonmetastatic
and metastatic castration-resistant settings.
treatment_term:
preferred_term: Pharmacotherapy
term:
id: NCIT:C15986
label: Pharmacotherapy
therapeutic_agent:
- preferred_term: enzalutamide
term:
id: NCIT:C71744
label: Enzalutamide
evidence:
- reference: NCIT:C71744
reference_title: "Enzalutamide (NCIT)"
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: OTHER
snippet: "Enzalutamide | Accepted_Therapeutic_Use_For | - | - | castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC)"
explanation: >-
NCI Thesaurus asserts accepted therapeutic use of enzalutamide for
castration-resistant prostate cancer.
- reference: PMID:30535926
reference_title: 'Enzalutamide: A Review in Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer.'
supports: SUPPORT
snippet: "Oral enzalutamide (Xtandi®), a second generation androgen receptor inhibitor, is indicated for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) in numerous countries worldwide, with specific indications in this patient population varying between individual countries."
explanation: This supports enzalutamide as a standard AR-directed therapy for castration-resistant prostate cancer.
- name: Androgen Deprivation plus AR Pathway Inhibition
description: >-
Combination systemic therapy pairs androgen deprivation therapy with an
androgen receptor pathway inhibitor for metastatic hormone-sensitive
prostate cancer, replacing ADT monotherapy for many fit patients.
evidence:
- reference: DOI:10.1200/op-24-00690
reference_title: Real-World Evidence of Combination Therapy Use in Metastatic Hormone-Sensitive Prostate Cancer in the United States From 2017 to 2023
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: Treatment of metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC) has evolved with robust clinical trial evidence on the benefits of combining androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) with androgen receptor pathway inhibitors (ARPIs; abiraterone, apalutamide, darolutamide, and enzalutamide) and/or docetaxel (DOC).
explanation: This supports ADT intensification with androgen receptor pathway inhibitors as a core systemic treatment pattern in mHSPC.
- reference: PMID:40315400
reference_title: "Systemic Therapy in Patients With Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer: ASCO Guideline Update."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: OTHER
snippet: "poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors (PARPi), chemotherapeutic agents (docetaxel, cabazitaxel)"
explanation: The 2025 ASCO mCRPC guideline update lists the systemic therapy classes for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, complementing the AR pathway inhibitors named here.
treatment_term:
preferred_term: hormone modifying therapy
term:
id: NCIT:C15445
label: Hormone Therapy
therapeutic_agent:
- preferred_term: abiraterone
term:
id: CHEBI:68642
label: abiraterone
- preferred_term: enzalutamide
term:
id: CHEBI:68534
label: enzalutamide
target_mechanisms:
- target: Androgen Receptor Signaling Dependence
treatment_effect: INHIBITS
description: ADT and AR pathway inhibitors suppress the androgen receptor axis that remains a central growth dependency in metastatic prostate cancer.
evidence:
- reference: DOI:10.1200/op-24-00690
reference_title: "Real-World Evidence of Combination Therapy Use in Metastatic Hormone-Sensitive Prostate Cancer in the United States From 2017 to 2023"
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: Treatment of metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC) has evolved with robust clinical trial evidence on the benefits of combining androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) with androgen receptor pathway inhibitors (ARPIs; abiraterone, apalutamide, darolutamide, and enzalutamide) and/or docetaxel (DOC).
explanation: >-
Supports combined ADT plus AR pathway inhibition as the systemic therapy
directed at the persistent androgen-receptor-signaling dependency.
- name: Talazoparib plus Enzalutamide
description: >-
PARP inhibitor and androgen receptor inhibitor combination therapy for
homologous recombination repair gene-mutated metastatic
castration-resistant prostate cancer.
evidence:
- reference: DOI:10.1200/jco.23.02182
reference_title: "US Food and Drug Administration Approval Summary: Talazoparib in Combination With Enzalutamide for Treatment of Patients With Homologous Recombination Repair Gene-Mutated Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer"
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved talazoparib with enzalutamide for first-line treatment of patients with homologous recombination repair (HRR) gene-mutated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).
explanation: FDA approval summary supports talazoparib plus enzalutamide for HRR-mutated first-line mCRPC.
- reference: PMID:40315400
reference_title: "Systemic Therapy in Patients With Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer: ASCO Guideline Update."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: OTHER
snippet: "For patients with BRCA1/2 alterations who did not receive prior ARPI, the combination of PARPi and ARPI (talazoparib + enzalutamide, olaparib and/or niraparib + abiraterone) has shown clinical benefit."
explanation: The 2025 ASCO mCRPC guideline update supports the talazoparib-plus-enzalutamide PARPi/ARPI combination in BRCA1/2-altered disease.
treatment_term:
preferred_term: targeted therapy
term:
id: NCIT:C93352
label: Targeted Therapy
therapeutic_agent:
- preferred_term: talazoparib
term:
id: CHEBI:231344
label: talazoparib
- preferred_term: enzalutamide
term:
id: CHEBI:68534
label: enzalutamide
target_mechanisms:
- target: Androgen Receptor Signaling Dependence
treatment_effect: INHIBITS
description: Enzalutamide inhibits AR signaling while talazoparib targets DNA-repair vulnerability in HRR-mutated tumors.
evidence:
- reference: DOI:10.1200/jco.23.02182
reference_title: "US Food and Drug Administration Approval Summary: Talazoparib in Combination With Enzalutamide for Treatment of Patients With Homologous Recombination Repair Gene-Mutated Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer"
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved talazoparib with enzalutamide for first-line treatment of patients with homologous recombination repair (HRR) gene-mutated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).
explanation: >-
The FDA approval of the talazoparib-enzalutamide combination supports
enzalutamide's inhibition of persistent androgen-receptor signaling
(alongside talazoparib's HRR-directed synthetic lethality).
- name: Pembrolizumab for MSI-H or dMMR Disease
description: >-
Anti-PD-1 checkpoint blockade is a biomarker-selected option for metastatic
prostate cancers with MSI-H/dMMR biology, where responses are enriched
relative to TMB-high microsatellite-stable tumors.
evidence:
- reference: DOI:10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-23-3403
reference_title: Microsatellite Instability, Tumor Mutational Burden, and Response to Immune Checkpoint Blockade in Patients with Prostate Cancer
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: Patients with microsatellite instability–high/mismatch repair-deficient (MSI-H/dMMR) and high tumor mutational burden (TMB-H) prostate cancers are candidates for pembrolizumab.
explanation: This supports biomarker-selected pembrolizumab use in immunotherapy-responsive metastatic prostate cancer subsets.
treatment_term:
preferred_term: immunotherapy
term:
id: NCIT:C15262
label: Immunotherapy
therapeutic_agent:
- preferred_term: pembrolizumab
term:
id: NCIT:C106432
label: Pembrolizumab
target_mechanisms:
- target: Immune-Suppressive Tumor Microenvironment
treatment_effect: INHIBITS
description: PD-1 blockade counteracts checkpoint-mediated immune evasion in biomarker-selected tumors with high neoantigen or mismatch-repair burden.
evidence:
- reference: DOI:10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-23-3403
reference_title: "Microsatellite Instability, Tumor Mutational Burden, and Response to Immune Checkpoint Blockade in Patients with Prostate Cancer"
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: Patients with microsatellite instability–high/mismatch repair-deficient (MSI-H/dMMR) and high tumor mutational burden (TMB-H) prostate cancers are candidates for pembrolizumab.
explanation: >-
Supports biomarker-selected PD-1 blockade (pembrolizumab) as the therapy
directed at the immune-evasion mechanism in MSI-H/dMMR metastatic
prostate cancer.
discussions:
- discussion_id: hmm_prostate_microbial_androgen_biosynthesis_castration_resistance
prompt: >-
In mice, gut commensals expand under androgen deprivation and supply an
alternative source of active androgens: antibiotic ablation of the gut
microbiota delays the emergence of castration resistance, and fecal
transplant from castration-resistant donors confers it. In humans the same
axis is so far only an association - the intestinal community of patients
with castration-resistant prostate cancer is enriched for
androgen-converting species, with no interventional human evidence. Does
microbial
androgen biosynthesis contribute to castration resistance in human prostate
cancer, or is the mouse dependency amplified by a host in which adrenal
androgen production is negligible?
kind: HUMAN_MODEL_MISMATCH
status: OPEN
attaches_to:
- pathophysiology#Androgen Receptor Signaling Dependence
- pathophysiology#Signaling Bypass and Castration Resistance
- treatments#Androgen Deprivation Therapy
rationale: >-
This entry curates castration resistance as a tumor-intrinsic bypass - AR
amplification, AR splice variants, and intratumoral steroidogenesis. The
mouse evidence adds a host-external route the pathograph does not represent:
the gut community itself converting circulating androgen precursors into
active androgens, restoring ligand to the receptor the therapy was meant to
starve. What keeps this from being curated as a mechanism node is a
species difference that is mechanistically load-bearing rather than
incidental. Mice produce little adrenal androgen, so a microbial
precursor-conversion route faces little host competition there; in castrated
men, adrenal DHEA and androstenedione remain a substantial precursor pool
that intratumoral steroidogenesis already exploits, which is the rationale
for abiraterone. A microbial contribution in humans therefore has to be
shown to be non-redundant with a pathway this entry already models, not
merely present. The human data reported alongside the mouse experiments are
observational, and the cross-disease review that prompted this discussion
still describes microbial metabolism of host hormonal precursors as
hypothesized rather than established for endocrine-therapy resistance. Until
a human intervention separates the two sources, an edge from a microbial
node into castration resistance would assert translational validity that the
evidence does not yet carry.
proposed_experiments:
- experiment_id: exp_prostate_microbial_androgen_conversion_human_intervention
name: Human test of whether gut microbial androgen conversion is non-redundant with adrenal precursor supply
description: >-
In men starting androgen deprivation therapy, serially profile the fecal
metagenome for androgen-converting gene content alongside serum and fecal
steroid metabolomics, and test whether microbial conversion capacity
predicts time to castration resistance independently of adrenal precursor
levels. Nest a randomized microbiota-directed intervention (a
narrow-spectrum antimicrobial or defined live biotherapeutic selected
against the converting taxa) within the cohort, stratified by baseline
adrenal androgen level, so that a microbial effect can be distinguished
from the adrenal-precursor route that abiraterone already targets.
experiment_type:
preferred_term: randomized microbiota-directed intervention nested in a prospective cohort
readouts:
- name: Microbial androgen-conversion capacity and time to castration resistance
target: pathophysiology#Signaling Bypass and Castration Resistance
description: >-
Association between baseline and on-treatment fecal androgen-converting
gene content and time to biochemical castration resistance, adjusted for
serum adrenal androgen precursors.
assays:
- preferred_term: shotgun metagenomic sequencing
- preferred_term: targeted steroid mass spectrometry
- name: Circulating active androgen after microbiota-directed intervention
target: pathophysiology#Androgen Receptor Signaling Dependence
description: >-
Change in serum testosterone and dihydrotestosterone in the
intervention arm relative to control, within adrenal-androgen strata.
assays:
- preferred_term: targeted steroid mass spectrometry
direction: DECREASED
decision_criterion: >-
Translational validity is supported if microbial androgen-conversion
capacity predicts earlier castration resistance independently of adrenal
precursor levels AND the microbiota-directed intervention lowers active
androgen and delays resistance in men with low adrenal androgen output. It
is not supported if the association disappears after adjustment for
adrenal precursors, or if the intervention alters community composition
without changing androgen levels or outcome - in which case the mouse
result should stay flagged as model-specific.
would_support:
- pathophysiology#Signaling Bypass and Castration Resistance
evidence:
- reference: PMID:34618582
reference_title: "Commensal bacteria promote endocrine resistance in prostate cancer through androgen biosynthesis."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: MODEL_ORGANISM
snippet: >-
Ablation of the gut microbiota by antibiotic therapy delayed the emergence
of castration resistance even in immunodeficient mice.
explanation: >-
The causal arm of the claim, and it is entirely murine: removing the
microbiota changes the timing of castration resistance in mice.
- reference: PMID:34618582
reference_title: "Commensal bacteria promote endocrine resistance in prostate cancer through androgen biosynthesis."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: MODEL_ORGANISM
snippet: >-
Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) from CRPC mice and patients
rendered mice harboring prostate cancer resistant to castration.
explanation: >-
Transfer experiment establishing sufficiency - but the readout organism is
the mouse, including for the human-donor material, so it does not close
the translational question.
- reference: PMID:34618582
reference_title: "Commensal bacteria promote endocrine resistance in prostate cancer through androgen biosynthesis."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: >-
Specifically, the intestinal microbial community in mice and patients with
CRPC was enriched for species capable of converting androgen precursors
into active androgens.
explanation: >-
The human arm of the finding. The quoted sentence spans both mouse and
patient cohorts and is tagged here for its human component, which is
observational enrichment only - no human intervention was performed.
- reference: PMID:42426614
reference_title: "Microbiota-mediated modulation of the tumor microenvironment in urological cancers: crosstalk between gut and intratumoral microbiota."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: OTHER
snippet: >-
Microbial metabolic pathways are also implicated in therapeutic
resistance; microbial metabolism of host hormonal precursors is
hypothesized as one mechanism contributing to resistance to endocrine
therapies.
explanation: >-
A 2026 cross-disease review still frames this route as hypothesized rather
than established for endocrine-therapy resistance, which is the
field-level statement of the mismatch recorded here.
notes: >-
Recorded from monarch-initiative/dismech#6383. Typed HUMAN_MODEL_MISMATCH
rather than KNOWLEDGE_GAP because the evidence is not absent - it is strong
and causal in mice, and the open question is whether it transfers to human
castration resistance. The PMID:42426614 item carries `evidence_source:
OTHER` because that publication is a narrative review making a field-level
synthesis claim rather than reporting primary data; see
monarch-initiative/dismech#8184.
definitions:
- name: 13-CMB AI morphometric predictor of neoadjuvant ADT response
definition_type: PHENOTYPE_ALGORITHM
derivation_basis: ESTABLISHED_CRITERIA
description: >-
A computable, image-derived predictor that classifies a prostate
adenocarcinoma needle biopsy as a likely responder or non-responder to
neoadjuvant androgen deprivation therapy (NADT) — the terminology used in
the source publication. Inputs are the abundance
levels of 13 cellular morphometric biomarkers (CMBs) — unsupervised,
machine-learned cell-appearance prototypes extracted from H&E whole-slide
images by the CMB-ML pipeline (stacked predictive sparse decomposition), NOT
named histopathology findings — combined by a LASSO regression into a
continuous treatment-resistance score that is dichotomized into responder
versus non-responder. The predictor operationalizes the split
that this entry's "Signaling Bypass and Castration Resistance" node captures:
the non-responder state it flags converges on PI3K/AKT/mTORC1-hyperactive
adaptive resistance (see conforms_to on that node,
mtor_androgen_deprivation_resistance), which is why it also predicts
potential benefit from adding an mTOR inhibitor in non-responders.
scope: >-
Research-grade, imaging-derived treatment-response predictor from routine
H&E needle-biopsy whole-slide images. This is NOT an OHDSI/OMOP EHR
case-finding query and NOT a consensus/validated clinical phenotype; it is a
published AI biomarker validated retrospectively across independent cohorts.
The 13 CMBs are latent learned features (cluster prototypes), so they are not
individually ontology-mappable to NCIT histopathology terms; the biological
correlates and the mTOR-resistance mechanism are what carry ontology grounding
(on the pathophysiology nodes and the conformed module).
attaches_to:
- pathophysiology#Signaling Bypass and Castration Resistance
validation_status:
status: UNVALIDATED
rationale: >-
Executed and evaluated against treatment-response and outcome reference
standards across four cohorts, but not against a prospective/consensus gold
standard, so it is beyond PROPOSED yet short of VALIDATED_AGAINST_GOLD_STANDARD.
Reported performance: AUC 0.981 for NADT-plus-enzalutamide response in the
NCT02430480 training cohort (n = 37); significant stratification of pathologic
complete response (p = 0.0005) and biochemical recurrence-free survival
(p = 0.024) in an independent hospital cohort (n = 122); BCRFS (p = 0.031) in a
second hospital cohort (n = 60); and progression-free survival (p = 0.0017) in
TCGA-PRAD (n = 396), remaining significant and independent after adjustment
for established clinical factors and the Decipher and Oncotype DX genomic
biomarkers. Key limitations that keep it UNVALIDATED as a clinical assay:
small training cohort (n = 37); validation confined to two independent
hospital cohorts plus a public genomic cohort; and no prospective evaluation
reported, the publication positioning the model as one that "could
potentially serve as a robust solution for precision management".
evidence:
- reference: PMID:41887393
reference_title: "AI-discovered cellular morphometric biomarkers in needle biopsy of prostate cancer predict neoadjuvant androgen deprivation therapy response and enable therapeutic targeting of mTOR in androgen deprivation therapy-resistant tumors."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: >-
we identified 13 cellular morphometric biomarkers (CMBs), as a New Approach
Methodology (NAM), from whole slide images of needle biopsies in clinical
trial specimens (NCT02430480, n = 37) that accurately predicted response to
neoadjuvant androgen deprivation therapy (NADT) plus enzalutamide
explanation: >-
Establishes the 13-CMB LASSO model as an AI predictor of NADT response
derived from H&E whole-slide images of needle biopsies in the trial cohort.
- reference: PMID:41887393
reference_title: "AI-discovered cellular morphometric biomarkers in needle biopsy of prostate cancer predict neoadjuvant androgen deprivation therapy response and enable therapeutic targeting of mTOR in androgen deprivation therapy-resistant tumors."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: >-
the 13-CMB model stratified PCa patients into responders and non-responders
after NADT across two independent hospital cohorts.
explanation: >-
Supports independent-cohort validation of the responder/non-responder
stratification this definition operationalizes.
- reference: PMID:41887393
reference_title: "AI-discovered cellular morphometric biomarkers in needle biopsy of prostate cancer predict neoadjuvant androgen deprivation therapy response and enable therapeutic targeting of mTOR in androgen deprivation therapy-resistant tumors."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: >-
the 13-CMB model demonstrated significant and independent clinical value
after adjustment for established clinical factors and commonly used genomic
biomarkers, including Decipher and Oncotype DX.
explanation: >-
Supports the claim that the predictor adds value independent of standard
clinical factors and the Decipher/Oncotype DX genomic assays.
- reference: PMID:41887393
reference_title: "AI-discovered cellular morphometric biomarkers in needle biopsy of prostate cancer predict neoadjuvant androgen deprivation therapy response and enable therapeutic targeting of mTOR in androgen deprivation therapy-resistant tumors."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: >-
CMBs accurately predicted the molecular differences between stratified
patient groups and the potential benefit from mTOR inhibitors in
non-responders, which were validated through IHC staining and
patient-derived organoids (n = 8), respectively.
explanation: >-
Grounds the attaches_to link to the resistance node and the
mtor_androgen_deprivation_resistance module: the non-responder
state predicts benefit from mTOR inhibition, validated by IHC and
patient-derived organoids.
notes: >-
Schema-fit caveat (design-register item): dismech's derivation_basis enum has
no value for an empirically-derived AI/imaging predictor. ESTABLISHED_CRITERIA
is used here under its "validated computable phenotype" clause because the
model is a published, cohort-validated computable predictor; its research-grade,
not-yet-gold-standard maturity is carried separately (and honestly) by
validation_status: UNVALIDATED. definition_type PHENOTYPE_ALGORITHM is likewise
the closest available bucket — the model is a computable predictive algorithm,
but on H&E whole-slide-image features rather than OMOP/EHR case-finding logic,
so it cannot be expressed as inline criteria_sets. Provenance: Yan et al.,
Cancer Letters 647 (2026) 218447, doi:10.1016/j.canlet.2026.218447, trial
NCT02430480. A dedicated imaging/ML-biomarker definition_type and an
EMPIRICAL_MODEL derivation_basis are proposed follow-ups for the design register.
notes: >-
Localized prostate adenocarcinoma is frequently indolent enough for risk-adapted
surveillance, but progression can produce metastatic and castration-resistant
states with strong bone tropism and increasing pathway heterogeneity. The
former Metastatic_Prostate_Cancer entry was folded into this entry's Metastatic
stage (design decisions §3a);
[`BRCA_Mutant_Prostate_Cancer.yaml`](kb/disorders/BRCA_Mutant_Prostate_Cancer.yaml)
remains a separate molecularly defined entry.
mappings:
mondo_mappings:
- term:
id: MONDO:0005082
label: prostate adenocarcinoma
mapping_predicate: skos:exactMatch
mapping_source: MONDO
mapping_justification: MONDO provides an exact disease term for prostate adenocarcinoma; this is the same term used as `disease_term` for this entry.
- term:
id: MONDO:0004956
label: metastatic prostate carcinoma
mapping_predicate: skos:narrowMatch
mapping_source: MONDO
mapping_justification: >-
MONDO's dedicated metastatic prostate carcinoma entity corresponds to the
Metastatic stage of this entry (the former Metastatic_Prostate_Cancer
entry, folded in per design decisions §3a).
ncit_mappings:
- term:
id: NCIT:C2919
label: Prostate Adenocarcinoma
mapping_predicate: skos:exactMatch
mapping_source: NCIT
mapping_justification: NCIT provides an exact concept for prostate adenocarcinoma; MONDO:0005082 cross-references NCIT:C2919 in its xref list.
classifications:
icdo_morphology:
classification_value: Adenocarcinoma
harrisons_chapter:
- classification_value: ONCOLOGY_HEMATOLOGY
datasets:
- accession: ega:EGAS00001000451
title: Plasma-Seq of patients with metastatic prostate cancer
description: Study 1 In this study we analysed patients with metastatic prostate cancer to scan their tumor genomes noninvasively in plasma DNA. We wanted to make whole-genome analysis from plasma DNA amenable to clinical routine applications and developed an approach based on a benchtop high-throughput platform, i.e. Illuminas MiSeq instrument. We performed whole-genome sequencing from plasma at a shallow sequencing depth to establish a genome-wide copy number profile of the tumor at low costs within 2 days. The genome-wide profiling in the plasma of our patients revealed multiple copy number aberrations including those previously reported in prostate tumors, such as losses in 8p and gains in 8q.
organism:
preferred_term: human
term:
id: NCBITaxon:9606
label: Homo sapiens
publication: PMID:23561577
notes: 'European Genome-phenome Archive study, matched because the disease is named in the study''s own title ("Metastatic Prostate Cancer"); description-level mentions were not accepted. EGA study_type: Other. Controlled access -- data require a Data Access Agreement. EGA metadata retrieved 2026-08-01.'
- accession: ega:EGAS00001000453
title: Identification of mutations and structural rearrangements in plasma DNA form metastatic prostate cancer patients
description: 'In this study we analysed patients with metastatic prostate cancer to scan their tumor genomes noninvasively in plasma DNA. We enriched 1.3 Mbp of seven plasma DNAs (4 CRPC cases: CRPC1-3 and CRPC5; 3 CSPC cases: CSPC1-2 and CSPC4) including exonic sequences of 55 cancer genes and 38 introns of 18 genes, where fusion breakpoints have been described using Sure Select Custom DNA Kit.'
organism:
preferred_term: human
term:
id: NCBITaxon:9606
label: Homo sapiens
notes: 'European Genome-phenome Archive study, matched because the disease is named in the study''s own title ("Metastatic Prostate Cancer"); description-level mentions were not accepted. EGA study_type: Resequencing. Controlled access -- data require a Data Access Agreement. EGA metadata retrieved 2026-08-01.'
- accession: ega:EGAS00001001018
title: Whole-genome plasma sequencing reveals focal amplifications as a driving force in metastatic prostate cancer
description: Genomic alterations in metastatic prostate cancer remain incompletely characterized. Here we analyze 493 prostate cancer cases from the TCGA database and perform whole-genome plasma sequencing on 95 plasma samples derived from 43 patients with metastatic prostate cancer. From these samples, we identify established driver aberrations in a cancer-related gene in nearly all cases (97.7%), including driver gene fusions (TMPRSS2:ERG), driver focal deletions (PTEN, RYBP, SHQ1), and driver amplifications (AR, MYC). In serial plasma analyses, we observe changes in focal amplifications in 40% of cases.
organism:
preferred_term: human
term:
id: NCBITaxon:9606
label: Homo sapiens
notes: 'European Genome-phenome Archive study, matched because the disease is named in the study''s own title ("Metastatic Prostate Cancer"); description-level mentions were not accepted. EGA study_type: Other. Controlled access -- data require a Data Access Agreement. EGA metadata retrieved 2026-08-01.'
references:
- reference: DOI:10.1007/s11864-024-01215-2
title: 'Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer: Advances in Treatment and Symptom Management'
found_in:
- Metastatic_Prostate_Cancer-deep-research-falcon.md
findings:
- statement: 'Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer: Advances in Treatment and Symptom Management'
supporting_text: Opinion statementThe management of metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) has evolved in the past decade due to substantial advances in understanding the genomic landscape and biology underpinning this form of prostate cancer.
evidence:
- reference: DOI:10.1007/s11864-024-01215-2
reference_title: 'Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer: Advances in Treatment and Symptom Management'
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: OTHER
snippet: Opinion statementThe management of metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) has evolved in the past decade due to substantial advances in understanding the genomic landscape and biology underpinning this form of prostate cancer.
explanation: Deep research cited this publication as relevant literature for Metastatic Prostate Cancer.
- reference: DOI:10.1016/j.eururo.2024.04.010
title: 'EAU-EANM-ESTRO-ESUR-ISUP-SIOG Guidelines on Prostate Cancer. Part II—2024 Update: Treatment of Relapsing and Metastatic Prostate Cancer'
found_in:
- Metastatic_Prostate_Cancer-deep-research-falcon.md
findings:
- statement: 'EAU-EANM-ESTRO-ESUR-ISUP-SIOG Guidelines on Prostate Cancer. Part II—2024 Update: Treatment of Relapsing and Metastatic Prostate Cancer'
supporting_text: 'EAU-EANM-ESTRO-ESUR-ISUP-SIOG Guidelines on Prostate Cancer. Part II—2024 Update: Treatment of Relapsing and Metastatic Prostate Cancer'
- reference: DOI:10.1038/s41591-023-02704-x
title: 'First-line talazoparib with enzalutamide in HRR-deficient metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer: the phase 3 TALAPRO-2 trial'
found_in:
- Metastatic_Prostate_Cancer-deep-research-falcon.md
findings:
- statement: Preclinical evidence has suggested an interplay between the androgen receptor, which largely drives the growth of prostate cancer cells, and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase.
supporting_text: Preclinical evidence has suggested an interplay between the androgen receptor, which largely drives the growth of prostate cancer cells, and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase.
evidence:
- reference: DOI:10.1038/s41591-023-02704-x
reference_title: 'First-line talazoparib with enzalutamide in HRR-deficient metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer: the phase 3 TALAPRO-2 trial'
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: Preclinical evidence has suggested an interplay between the androgen receptor, which largely drives the growth of prostate cancer cells, and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase.
explanation: Deep research cited this publication as relevant literature for Metastatic Prostate Cancer.
- reference: DOI:10.1101/2025.04.15.25325837
title: 'Systemic treatment options for metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer: A living systematic review'
found_in:
- Metastatic_Prostate_Cancer-deep-research-falcon.md
findings:
- statement: Optimal treatment selection for metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) remains challenging due to evolving standards of care in castration sensitive setting.
supporting_text: Optimal treatment selection for metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) remains challenging due to evolving standards of care in castration sensitive setting.
evidence:
- reference: DOI:10.1101/2025.04.15.25325837
reference_title: 'Systemic treatment options for metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer: A living systematic review'
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: OTHER
snippet: Optimal treatment selection for metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) remains challenging due to evolving standards of care in castration sensitive setting.
explanation: Deep research cited this publication as relevant literature for Metastatic Prostate Cancer.
- reference: DOI:10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-23-3403
title: Microsatellite Instability, Tumor Mutational Burden, and Response to Immune Checkpoint Blockade in Patients with Prostate Cancer
found_in:
- Metastatic_Prostate_Cancer-deep-research-falcon.md
findings:
- statement: Patients with microsatellite instability–high/mismatch repair-deficient (MSI-H/dMMR) and high tumor mutational burden (TMB-H) prostate cancers are candidates for pembrolizumab.
supporting_text: Patients with microsatellite instability–high/mismatch repair-deficient (MSI-H/dMMR) and high tumor mutational burden (TMB-H) prostate cancers are candidates for pembrolizumab.
evidence:
- reference: DOI:10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-23-3403
reference_title: Microsatellite Instability, Tumor Mutational Burden, and Response to Immune Checkpoint Blockade in Patients with Prostate Cancer
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: Patients with microsatellite instability–high/mismatch repair-deficient (MSI-H/dMMR) and high tumor mutational burden (TMB-H) prostate cancers are candidates for pembrolizumab.
explanation: Deep research cited this publication as relevant literature for Metastatic Prostate Cancer.
- reference: DOI:10.1200/jco.23.02182
title: 'US Food and Drug Administration Approval Summary: Talazoparib in Combination With Enzalutamide for Treatment of Patients With Homologous Recombination Repair Gene-Mutated Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer'
found_in:
- Metastatic_Prostate_Cancer-deep-research-falcon.md
findings:
- statement: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved talazoparib with enzalutamide for first-line treatment of patients with homologous recombination repair (HRR) gene-mutated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).
supporting_text: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved talazoparib with enzalutamide for first-line treatment of patients with homologous recombination repair (HRR) gene-mutated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).
evidence:
- reference: DOI:10.1200/jco.23.02182
reference_title: 'US Food and Drug Administration Approval Summary: Talazoparib in Combination With Enzalutamide for Treatment of Patients With Homologous Recombination Repair Gene-Mutated Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer'
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved talazoparib with enzalutamide for first-line treatment of patients with homologous recombination repair (HRR) gene-mutated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).
explanation: Deep research cited this publication as relevant literature for Metastatic Prostate Cancer.
- reference: DOI:10.1200/op-24-00690
title: Real-World Evidence of Combination Therapy Use in Metastatic Hormone-Sensitive Prostate Cancer in the United States From 2017 to 2023
found_in:
- Metastatic_Prostate_Cancer-deep-research-falcon.md
findings:
- statement: Real-World Evidence of Combination Therapy Use in Metastatic Hormone-Sensitive Prostate Cancer in the United States From 2017 to 2023
supporting_text: Treatment of metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC) has evolved with robust clinical trial evidence on the benefits of combining androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) with androgen receptor pathway inhibitors (ARPIs; abiraterone, apalutamide, darolutamide, and enzalutamide) and/or docetaxel (DOC).
evidence:
- reference: DOI:10.1200/op-24-00690
reference_title: Real-World Evidence of Combination Therapy Use in Metastatic Hormone-Sensitive Prostate Cancer in the United States From 2017 to 2023
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: Treatment of metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC) has evolved with robust clinical trial evidence on the benefits of combining androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) with androgen receptor pathway inhibitors (ARPIs; abiraterone, apalutamide, darolutamide, and enzalutamide) and/or docetaxel (DOC).
explanation: Deep research cited this publication as relevant literature for Metastatic Prostate Cancer.
- reference: DOI:10.3322/caac.70028
title: Prostate cancer statistics, 2025
found_in:
- Metastatic_Prostate_Cancer-deep-research-falcon.md
findings:
- statement: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in the United States, and the incidence of advanced disease is increasing rapidly.
supporting_text: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in the United States, and the incidence of advanced disease is increasing rapidly.
evidence:
- reference: DOI:10.3322/caac.70028
reference_title: Prostate cancer statistics, 2025
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in the United States, and the incidence of advanced disease is increasing rapidly.
explanation: Deep research cited this publication as relevant literature for Metastatic Prostate Cancer.
- reference: DOI:10.3390/cancers15061849
title: Advances in PARP Inhibitors for Prostate Cancer
found_in:
- Metastatic_Prostate_Cancer-deep-research-falcon.md
findings:
- statement: Poly-adenosine diphosphate-ribose polymerase plays an essential role in cell function by regulating apoptosis, genomic stability and DNA repair.
supporting_text: Poly-adenosine diphosphate-ribose polymerase plays an essential role in cell function by regulating apoptosis, genomic stability and DNA repair.
evidence:
- reference: DOI:10.3390/cancers15061849
reference_title: Advances in PARP Inhibitors for Prostate Cancer
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: OTHER
snippet: Poly-adenosine diphosphate-ribose polymerase plays an essential role in cell function by regulating apoptosis, genomic stability and DNA repair.
explanation: Deep research cited this publication as relevant literature for Metastatic Prostate Cancer.
- reference: DOI:10.3390/cancers15092552
title: Management of Advanced Prostate Cancer in the Precision Oncology Era
found_in:
- Metastatic_Prostate_Cancer-deep-research-falcon.md
findings:
- statement: Prostate cancer (PC) is the second leading cause of cancer death in men in the United States.
supporting_text: Prostate cancer (PC) is the second leading cause of cancer death in men in the United States.
evidence:
- reference: DOI:10.3390/cancers15092552
reference_title: Management of Advanced Prostate Cancer in the Precision Oncology Era
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: OTHER
snippet: Prostate cancer (PC) is the second leading cause of cancer death in men in the United States.
explanation: Deep research cited this publication as relevant literature for Metastatic Prostate Cancer.
- reference: DOI:10.3390/ijms262311665
title: 'Therapeutic Advances in Metastatic Prostate Cancer: A Journey from Standard of Care to New Emerging Treatment'
found_in:
- Metastatic_Prostate_Cancer-deep-research-falcon.md
findings:
- statement: Prostate cancer (PCa) remains one of the most prevalent malignancies among men worldwide and continues to pose significant therapeutic challenges, especially in its metastatic and castration-resistant forms.
supporting_text: Prostate cancer (PCa) remains one of the most prevalent malignancies among men worldwide and continues to pose significant therapeutic challenges, especially in its metastatic and castration-resistant forms.
evidence:
- reference: DOI:10.3390/ijms262311665
reference_title: 'Therapeutic Advances in Metastatic Prostate Cancer: A Journey from Standard of Care to New Emerging Treatment'
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: OTHER
snippet: Prostate cancer (PCa) remains one of the most prevalent malignancies among men worldwide and continues to pose significant therapeutic challenges, especially in its metastatic and castration-resistant forms.
explanation: Deep research cited this publication as relevant literature for Metastatic Prostate Cancer.
review_notes: >-
From the folded Metastatic_Prostate_Cancer entry: its environmental section was
removed. Its only entry was "Older age", which is a property of the patient
rather than something the patient is exposed to, and which ECTO and XCO have no
term for by design. Per dismech#8551 an age association belongs in a prevalence
population stratifier; the entry carried no citation to carry across, so nothing
was migrated and no new claim was manufactured.
This report is retrieval-only and is generated directly from Asta results.
search_papers_by_relevance with snippet_search.