Gleason Grade Group 1 prostate cancers exhibit tumor-defining androgen receptors

Grade group 1 (GG1) prostate cancers, with a Gleason score of 6, are considered low-risk and not likely to lead to death. Because they are generally slow-growing and not aggressive, treatment is often not needed. These cancers rarely spread to nearby areas or other parts of the body. This has led to a debate about whether these low-grade cancers should even be called “cancer.” However, scientists haven’t fully studied the molecular drivers, like the androgen receptor (AR), in these low-grade tumors. The AR is a protein that plays a key role in prostate cancer growth.

In this study, researchers looked closely at how AR interacts with the DNA in GG1 prostate cancers to understand if the AR-driven processes in these tumors are specific to cancer or more like normal prostate cells. They found that the AR binds to specific parts of the DNA in GG1 tumors in the same way it does in more aggressive prostate cancers. The activity of these DNA regions and the expression of related genes were not significantly different from higher- grade cancers. This suggests that GG1 tumors behave like true cancers and are not genetically the same as normal, noncancerous prostate tissue.