Inflammatory Gene Regulation in Chronic Prostatitis/Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome (CP/CPPS) and Prostate Cancer

This study examines the role of estrogen signaling and stromal interactions for chronic abacterial prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) and prostate cancer (PCa). It revealed a downregulation of the estrogen receptor alpha in clinical liquid biopsies (blood and semen) of CP/CPPS patients. Prostate cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF) and mast cells are associated with PCa progression and our experiments demonstrated that their secreted factors skew macrophages towards a tumour-promoting phenotype. Live cell time lapse imaging co-culture experiments suggest that macrophages induce malignant transformation of epithelial cells.