Potential targets in prostate tumor–associated stroma

15529 Background: The past 20 years have seen a shift in the paradigm that the stromal compartment in tissues is merely a passive, supporting tissue for epithelial cells. Recent evidence shows that it plays a critical role not only in normal tissue development and homeostasis, but also in the progression of cancer. Further, as the stromal compartment is more readily accessible to vascular-delivered agents, this region might be particularly amenable to clinical intervention. As such, a broad-based study of the carcinoma-associated changes in stromal cells from patient samples could yield a wealth of information on the molecular mechansisms of tumorigenesis, and identify clinically important molecular targets. Methods: Five whole-mount frozen prostatectomy specimens were microdissected in four regions: normal epithelium, tumor epithelium, normal stroma, and tumor-associated stroma. Extracted and amplified mRNA was hybridized to the Human Genome U133 Plus 2.0 GeneChip (Affymetrix). Using the intersection of ...