Crosstalk between COVID-19 and prostate cancer

Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 2020 Dec;23(4):561-563. doi: 10.1038/s41391-020-0262-y. Epub 2020 Jul 24.

Abstract

A new coronavirus, named SARS-CoV-2, emerged in Wuhan city, China, in December 2019 causing atypical pneumonia and affecting multiple body organs. The rapidly increasing numbers of infected patients and deaths due to COVID-19 disease necessitated declaring it as a global pandemic. Efforts were combined since then to rapidly develop a treatment and/or a vaccine to combat the deadly virus. Drug repurposing approach has been pursued as a temporary management tactic to treat COVID-19 patients. However, reports about the efficacy of many of the used drugs had been controversial with a dire need to keep the ongoing efforts for rapid development of new treatments. Promising data came out pointing to a possible hidden liaison between prostate cancer (PCa) and COVID-19, where androgen-deprivation therapies (ADT) used in PCa had been shown to instigate a protective role against COVID-19. Delving into the possible mechanisms underlying the crosstalk between COVID-19 and PCa alludes a potential association between SARS-CoV-2 targets on host epithelial cells and PCa genetic aberrations and molecular signatures, including AR and TMPRSS2. The question remains: Can PCa treatments serve as potential therapeutic options for COVID-19 patients?

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Androgen Antagonists / therapeutic use*
  • Betacoronavirus / drug effects
  • Betacoronavirus / isolation & purification*
  • COVID-19
  • China / epidemiology
  • Coronavirus Infections / complications
  • Coronavirus Infections / drug therapy
  • Coronavirus Infections / epidemiology*
  • Coronavirus Infections / virology
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Pandemics
  • Pneumonia, Viral / complications
  • Pneumonia, Viral / drug therapy
  • Pneumonia, Viral / epidemiology*
  • Pneumonia, Viral / virology
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / epidemiology*
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / virology
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Serine Endopeptidases / chemistry
  • Serine Endopeptidases / metabolism

Substances

  • Androgen Antagonists
  • Serine Endopeptidases
  • TMPRSS2 protein, human