A nuclear-receptor protein called ROR-γ has a key role in making prostate cancer deadly.

In many cases of prostate cancer, the gene that encodes the androgen receptor becomes overactive and drives tumour progression, leading to fatal tumours that are resistant to castration therapy and contain high levels of ROR-γ. To understand its role, Hong-Wu Chen at the University of California, Davis, Yong Xu at the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, China, and their team suppressed ROR-γ in cancerous cell lines and in human tumours transplanted into mice. This suppression blocked expression of the androgen-receptor gene and inhibited tumour growth, suggesting that ROR-γ is a crucial component of the castration-resistant tumours.

Current therapies target androgen-receptor levels, but mutations in tumours often make them resistant to such treatment. Targeting ROR-γ could help patients to fight advanced prostate cancer.

Nature Med. http://doi.org/bdtk (2016)