Prostate cancer dormancy post-androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is a commonly observed phenomenon that often leads to recurrence as castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). To avoid recurrence of this lethal cancer and develop therapeutic targets for post-ADT dormant prostate cancer, it is vital to understand the mechanism of cellular entry into the dormant state. In their study, Kang and colleagues found that expression of B7-H4 was upregulated in post-castration dormant PDX models and in clinical post-ADT prostate cancer tissues. Transcriptomic analysis of neo-adjuvant hormone therapy treated patient samples verified a negative association between VTCN1 (B7-H4) expression and androgen receptor signaling targets KLK2, KLK3, and KLK4. Gene set enrichment analysis using VTCN1-expressing and non-expressing cells identified enrichment of extracellular matrix (ECM) interaction pathways in VTCN1-expressing cells. Accordingly, overexpression of B7-H4 diminished prostate cancer cell growth under androgen-deficient conditions in vitro, and delayed recurrence in castrated hosts in vivo. The...

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