Vikash Reebye, Jeri Kim, Andrea Frilling, Joanna P. Nicholls, Nagy A. Habib and Paul J. Mintz
Maintaining a balanced prostate microenvironment is pivotal for normal development and homeostasis of the prostate gland. This balance however is severely disrupted during the progression of prostate cancer where the local microenvironment becomes compromised. The cellular components associated with the microenvironment, including stromal cells, immune cells, blood vessels, and the extracellular matrix, interact cooperatively with prostate cancer cells through paracrine and autocrine actions of soluble growth factors and cytokines thus creating a modified tumour microenvironment. Understanding how paracrine and autocrine factors interact in this microenvironment may lead to improved understanding of prostate cancer progression and to the development of drug combinations that might target both the primary and metastatic prostate cancer tumour microenvironments.