Novel treatment for prostate cancer targeting prostaglandins

PGE2 is highly expressed in the prostate, associating with prostate cancer progression. Targeting downstream signaling pathways of PGE2 may represent an attractive new strategy for the treatment of prostate cancer. We have established a novel prostate cancer xenograft model, KUCaP-2. The expression of EP4, one of PGE2 receptors, was significantly up-regulated during the development of castration resistance. A specific EP4 antagonist, ONO-AE3-208, decelerated castration-resistant growth of KUCaP-2 tumors in vivo. Moreover, ONO-AE3-208 could in vitro inhibit the cell invasion and in vivo suppress the bone metastasis of prostate cancer cells. These results indicated that EP4 is a novel target for the treatment of metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer.