JCMT Special Issue's Workshop-Prostate Cancer and the Tumour Microenvironment

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the fourth most frequent cancer and the second most common cancer in men. Approximately 1.1 million cases of PCa were diagnosed worldwide in 2012, accounting for 15% of all cancers in men [Ferlay et al., Int J Cancer 2015;136:E359e86.]. Although advances in both PCa biology and precision medicine have improved the clinical outcome, the overall impact on survival rates has been relatively modest, leaving metastasised or recurrent disease largely incurable by conventional approaches and requiring the development of better therapeutics. In regard to the latter, it is clear that there is an unmet need to better understand the interactions between PCa cells and non-transformed cells and what makes up the tumour microenvironment.To address this gap in knowledge, Drs Klaus Pors (University of Bradford), Fiona Frame (University of York) and Jason Webber (Cardiff University) decided to organise a Prostate Cancer Microenvironment workshop in Cardiff (Wales), February 1, 2017. The JCMT-sponsored workshop attracted high-profile speakers with expertise in PCa biology, tumour microenvironment, drug discovery and treatment of PCa patients. For further details, click on the link: https://prostatecancerwork.wixsite.com:443/cardiff.

In addition to the workshop, a meeting was held the day before to discuss publication of a thematic issue in Journal of Cancer Metastasis and Treatment (JCMT) with focus on PCa microenvironment and how it affects the metastatic process and treatment outcome. The JCMT issue meeting and the workshop were designed to assess what obstacles and opportunities exist in the tumour microenvironment and ultimately how such information can be beneficial to PCa patients. Workshop delegates, group leaders and leading clinicians (pictured below) provided excellent insight in various aspects of PCa disease and importantly provided impetus for brainstorming and future directions. Upon reflection of the Cardiff workshop and subsequent discussions, a thematic issue in JCMT is now being put together by Guest Editors Rachel Errington (Cardiff University), Jason Webber and Klaus Pors and include article contributions by the invited workshop speakers and their colleagues. The thematic issue will address how the PCa microenvironment affects metastasis and treatment outcome and will be published in the summer of 2017.