Abstract B21: Functional Role of ETS/ETV1-Fusion Proteins in Prostate Cancer and Other Cancers

After lung cancer prostate cancer is the most common age related cancer among men in the United State. African American men have the highest incidence of, and mortality rate from, this disease in the United States (American Cancer Society). According to the American Cancer Society, 29% of all cancer cases and 9% of all cancer deaths are a result of prostate cancer. By the age of 75, one out of nine men will develop prostate cancer. Individuals who are at higher risk include African-American men, men over 60 years of age and those with a family history of the disease. African-Americans also have twice the risk of developing prostate cancer as Caucasians. E26 transforming sequence (ETS) factors play an important role in cancers. ETV1, an ETS factor, is notable for its association in prostate cancers, where truncated ETV1 (dETV1) or its full length counterpart is overexpressed in approximately 10% of the patients. Formation of cancers may be brought on by deregulation of Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Mutations that stabilize β-catenin may contribute to loss of cell growth control in tumorigenesis. ETV1's interaction with components of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway may alter β-catenin interaction with downstream tumor suppressor genes, which are critical in regulating apoptosis and cell growth properties. Our results show that ETV1 regulates Wnt/β-catenin activity. We provide evidence that ETV1 activates kinases that regulate Wnt/β-catenin activity by post translational modification. Also, we demonstrate that therapeutic agents that reverse ETV1-regulated Wnt/β-catenin activity can be used to target ETV1-positive prostate cancer cells. These therapeutic agents will have a profound impact on prevention and treatment of prostate cancer and this may help to reduce health disparity seen in the minority patients.

Citation Format: Sharif Morsalin, Chunshu Yang, Jinbo Fang, Yasuo Fujimura, Shubhalaxmi Kayarthodi, Huali Xu, Ujwala Gunnal, Clarence Clark, Julian Menter, Veena Rao, Shyam Reddy. Functional Role of ETS/ETV1-Fusion Proteins in Prostate Cancer and Other Cancers. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Ninth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2016 Sep 25-28; Fort Lauderdale, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2017;26(2 Suppl):Abstract nr B21.