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. 2013 Jun 20;18(3):355–367. doi: 10.2478/s11658-013-0095-y

Role of inflammasomes and their regulators in prostate cancer initiation, progression and metastasis

Sudhakar Veeranki 1,✉
PMCID: PMC6275599  PMID: 23793845

Abstract

Prostate cancer is one of the main cancers that affect men, especially older men. Though there has been considerable progress in understanding the progression of prostate cancer, the drivers of its development need to be studied more comprehensively. The emergence of resistant forms has also increased the clinical challenges involved in the treatment of prostate cancer. Recent evidence has suggested that inflammation might play an important role at various stages of cancer development. This review focuses on inflammasome research that is relevant to prostate cancer and indicates future avenues of study into its effective prevention and treatment through inflammasome regulation. With regard to prostate cancer, such research is still in its early stages. Further study is certainly necessary to gain a broader understanding of prostate cancer development and to create successful therapy solutions.

Key words: Inflammation, Adaptor protein ASC, Caspase-1, Prostate cancer, IFI16, caspase-1, IL-1β, IL-18, NLR

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Abbreviations used

AIM2

absent in melanoma 2

ASC

apoptosis-associated specklike protein containing caspase recruitment domain

IFN

interferon

IFI16

interferon gamma-inducible protein-16

IL

interleukin

IL-1R1

interleukin-1 receptor 1

MyD88

myeloid differentiation factor 88

NF-κB

nuclear factor of kappa light polypeptide gene enhancer in B-cells

NLR

NOD-like leucine-rich repeat-containing receptor

NOD

nucleotide oligomerization domain

PIA

proliferative inflammatory atrophy

PPR

pathogen-associated pattern recognition receptor

PSA

prostate-specific antigen

SNP

single nucleotide polymorphisms

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