Elucidation of the mechanism of exacerbation of endometrial cancer in Foxp4 and development of a new treatment method focusing on androgens.

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K18160
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 56040:Obstetrics and gynecology-related
• Research Institution: Kanazawa University
• Principal Investigator: Matsuoka Ayumi 金沢大学, 附属病院, 助教 (50579662)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 子宮体部類内膜癌 / Foxp4 / Androgen receptor / Androgens

Outline of Final Research Achievements

When the expression of Foxp4 and Androgen receptor (AR) was examined for endometrial cancer, it was found that the prognosis was poor in the Foxp4 strongly positive group and the AR weakly positive group. Experiments with human endometrial cancer cell lines also suggested that Foxp4 may promote cell proliferation and scaffold-independent proliferation. Furthermore, it was found that when an AR-expressing human endometrial cancer cell line was prepared and DHT was administered, the expression level of Foxp4 decreased and cell proliferation was suppressed. These results strongly suggest that Foxp4 may be involved in the exacerbation of endometrial cancer, and that androgen may be involved in its regulation, which was supported by experiments using mice.

Free Research Field

婦人科悪性腫瘍

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

子宮内膜癌は罹患率・死亡率ともに増加傾向を示している婦人科悪性腫瘍である。しかし病理組織や画像診断で再発低リスク群と判定されるもリンパ節転移や術後再発をきたす症例の存在が問題となっている。今回の研究でFoxp4の発現が子宮内膜癌の悪性化に関与しており、AndrogenがFoxp4を制御する因子の一つである可能性が強く示唆された。腫瘍の癌化・進展を説明する新たな機序が解明され、今後さらにこれらのシグナル経路に関わる新たな治療法が提案できる可能性がある。