The Molecular Biology of Prostate Cancer: Diagnosis, Resistance and Virulence

Abstract

Prostate cancer is the most common form of non-skin cancer in men and the second leading cause of cancer death among them. The estimated incidence of prostate cancer worldwide was 1,414,259 in 2020, making it the fourth most commonly diagnosed malignancy, with the majority of cases seen in those over 65 years of age. Several genes have been implicated in prostate cancer development using many molecular methods to elucidate genes related to its development and progressions. Prostate cancer gene variants can be categorised based on many factors, such as the type of gene they affect (tumour suppressor, oncogene) or the type of mutation observed in the development of the illness (SNP’s, gene fusions, translocations, deletions, duplications etc) epigenetic changes and even alternative splice variants are also observed in the development of prostate cancer. Understanding these various genetic connotations can then have implications for diagnosis and treatment.