One of the most promising new treatments for bladder cancer involves a protein called Nectin-4. Expressed in high amounts in bladder cancer, Nectin-4 is the target of an antibody drug conjugate called enfortumab vedotin (EV). In exciting research, a Brady team asked a new question: Could Nectin-4 also be a treatable target in aggressive prostate cancer? 

“Many men with bladder cancer also develop prostate cancer,” says genitourinary cancer specialist Jeannie Hoffman-Censits, M.D. To find out whether this same protein could be involved in both types of cancer, Hoffman-Censits, pathologist Ezra Baraban, M.D., and colleagues recently conducted an extensive study involving samples from 302 prostate cancer patients. Using a technique called immunohistochemistry, the researchers measured the levels of Nectin-4 in both normal and cancerous prostate tissues. 

They found that Nectin-4 is commonly present in prostate tissue – but a lot more of it is expressed in cancer cells than in normal cells. The vast majority – about 91 percent – of the prostate cancer cases the team studied showed some Nectin-4 expression, “with cancer cells typically showing intense protein levels across various grades of prostate cancer,” says Baraban. “Remarkably, ductal adenocarcinoma, a rare and aggressive form of prostate cancer, exhibited especially high levels of this protein.” 

These findings, published in The Prostate, point to the potential use of Nectin-4-targeting EV as a treatment for prostate cancer. More studies are needed, the researchers caution, but the concept is promising. Also, notes Baraban, “this study highlights the importance of investigating existing therapies for potential use across different cancer types.”