The Role of Inflammation in Prostate Cancer

Abstract

In the United States and in "Westernized" countries, the prevalence of both prostate cancer and prostate inflammation is very high, indicating that the two pathologies could be causally related. Indeed, chronic inflammation is now regarded as an "enabling" characteristic of human cancer. Prostate cancer incidence is thought to be mediated in part by genetics, but also by environmental exposures, including the same exposures that may contribute to the development of prostatic inflammation. As our understanding of the role of inflammation in cancer deepens, it is increasingly apparent that "inflammation" as a whole is a complex entity that does not always play a negative role in cancer etiology. In fact, inflammation can play potentially dichotomous (both pro and antitumorigenic) roles depending on the nature and the cellular makeup of the immune response. This chapter will focus on reviewing the current state of knowledge on the role of innate and adaptive immune cells within the prostate tumor microenvironment and their seemingly complex role in prostate cancer in preventing versus promoting initiation and progression of the disease.

Inverse Association of Prostatic Chronic Inflammation among Prostate Cancer Tumor Grade Groups: Retrospective Study of 738 Consecutive Cases Elected to a First Random Biopsy Set

“…Induction and progression of cancers depend on the immune system whose cells have the potential to be both anti- or pro-tumorigenic, which depends on cellular phenotypes and the tumor microenvironment [18]. In prostate microenvironment, chronic inflammation is involved in PCA carcinogenesis [19]. …”

The Carcinogenic Potential of Microbial Infections of the Prostate and the Role of Contaminations

“…Other issues are also of importance: it is unlikely that infectious agents are evenly distributed in the (diseased) prostate; thus, the investigation of only one tissue sample per patient might not be sufficient to detect microorganisms. Indeed, Sfanos et al [4,17] showed that detection rates were highly dependent on the number of samples taken per patient: When only one biopsy needle core was investigated, 50% of patients were PCR positive for 16S rRNA. However, when investigating three cores per patient the detection rate increased to 87%.…”

“…Contamination can potentially be introduced during sample collection or after resection if samples are stored under non-sterile conditions. Indeed, it is challenging to collect human prostate tissue samples under completely sterile conditions [17,18]. Biopsy samples are collected with a biopsy needle that needs to traverse a typically 'contaminated' surface, the rectum.…”

Association of interleukin-6 (-174 G/C) polymorphism with the prostate cancer risk: A meta-analysis

“…However, the accurate etiology and pathogenesis remain inconsistent. Recently, a number of studies suggested that inflammation and genetic factors may play an important role in the etiology of prostate cancer (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14). The prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 gene that encodes the cyclooxygenase-2 enzyme has been verified to play an important role in the development of prostate cancer in numerous studies (15)(16)(17)(18).…”