Genomes of early onset prostate cancer

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Prostate cancer is a disease of the elderly but a clinically relevant subset occurs early in life. In the current review, we discuss recent findings and the current understanding of the molecular underpinnings associated with early-onset prostate cancer (PCa) and the evidence supporting age-specific differences in the cancer genomes.

RECENT FINDINGS: Recent surveys of PCa patient cohorts have provided novel age-dependent links between germline and somatic aberrations which points to differences in the molecular cause and treatment options.

SUMMARY: Identifying the earliest molecular alterations in PCa can provide insight into the cause of the disease and biomarkers for patient risk stratification. Genomic aberrations of early-onset PCas display several patterns distinct from late-onset PCa genomes, suggesting age-dependent pathomechanisms involving alterations in the androgen receptor pathway.