The Link Between Body Fat Hormones and Prostate Cancer Progression

Our fat produces hormones that provide our bodies feedback about energy stores. This feedback can trigger us to eat or burn energy. However, in some diseases, fat hormones are imbalanced as is observed in advanced prostate cancer patients receiving anti androgens. Evidence suggests that imbalanced fat hormone levels can drive cancer aggressiveness and progression in these men. Therefore, using novel drugs that alter fat hormone activity , we hope to combat prostate cancer. By introducing human prostate cancer into mice, we have demonstrated these drugs effectively halt and even regress tumour growth. To uncover how tumours and their microenvironment were impacted, we longitudinally imaged live mice during drug treatment by (1) ultrasound/ photoacoustic imaging and (2) captured the gene expression landscape by RNA sequencing tumours. Hopefully by translating our drug findings to clinical testing, we can prolong treatment efficacy in advanced prostate cancer patients and provide new therapies to treat this currently incurable disease.