Oxidative stress and castration-resistant prostate cancer

Androgen deprivation therapy can induce oxidative stress by increasing reactive oxygen species levels and/or decreasing cellular antioxidant capacity, which in turn cause genetic and epigenetic effects in prostate cancer. Oxidative stress increases androgen receptor (AR) activation through several possible mechanisms, including AR overexpression, AR activation by co-regulators and intracellular signal transduction pathways, mutation of AR and AR-related proteins, expression of AR splice variants, de novo androgen synthesis, and changes in non-AR signaling. Alterations in AR and non-AR signaling appear to have pro-survival and anti-apoptotic effects on prostate cancer cells, resulting in the development of castration-resistant prostate cancer. Thus, antioxidant therapy could be a promising strategy for the treatment of prostate cancer. Oxidative stress also influences the activity of several prostate cancer therapies, such as taxanes, radiotherapy, and AR-targeting agents. Taken together, these observations suggest that oxidative stress-induced AR signaling is a critical resistance factor and a crucial target for prostate cancer treatment.