The major obstacle for successful treatment of advanced prostate cancer is the development of androgen independence and therapeutic resistance during cancer progression. Identifying the molecular mechanisms underlying these processes is crucial to developing novel therapeutic strategies that make a significant impact on patient survival. Stress-activated proteins have been identified as key factors in the development of therapeutic resistance and have already been proven to be promising targets for novel treatment strategies in prostate cancer. The stress-activated proteins YB-1 and G3BP are known to be biomarkers of poor prognosis and are promising candidates to become therapeutic targets, too. Since they are multifunctional proteins, their inhibition could affect multiple mechanisms and pathways important for cancer progression. The increasing evidence from the Centre’s lab linking elevated YB-1 levels with androgen independence and chemotherapeutic resistance makes especially YB-1 an excellent target for therapeutic treatment. Investigating the function of YB-1 and G3BPs and their downstream pathways with respect to mechanisms of cancer progression will help to identify novel therapeutic targets for advanced prostate cancer.
