A study, led by Dr. Rosanna Paciucci, from the Research Unit in Biomedicine and Translational Oncology at Vall d’Hebron Institute of Research (VHIR), has identified one of the mechanisms of Prostate Tumor Overexpressed-1 (PTOV1) protein, related with the development of tumors and metastasis in prostate cancer. The investigation, published in "http://www.nature.com/onc/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/onc201351a.html" Oncogene, opens the door to the design of new therapeutic targets. PTOV1 is a protein expressed at high levels in prostate cancer and other premalignant lesions which precede the disease. Thanks to this study, researchers have demonstrated that it is a regulator of other proteins which intensify the aggressiveness of the tumor. Particularly, when PTOV1 interacts with RACK1 protein, it activates the protein synthesis of a group of mRNAS, among them there is the oncogene c-JUN/AP1. At the same time, this oncogene causes an overexpression of SNAIL1 and uPA genes, which are well-known for their motility, invasiveness of prostate cancer cells, and in vivo metastasis. To demonstrate the regulatory function of PTOV1, VHIR researchers inoculated in mice prostate cancer cells with the PTOV1 very reduced, proving that the resulting tumors were smaller and metastasized later. These tumors, besides having the PTOV1 expression very reduced, didn’t express c-Jun oncogene. On the other side, they also proved that in human prostate cancer samples, the expression of high levels of PTOV1 in primary and metastatic tumors was significantly associated with increased nuclear localization of active c-Jun. With these results, Dr. Paciucci assures that, despite the mechanisms of activation of PTOV1 in cancer cells are yet unknown, the identification of its mechanism of action suggests new strategies for antitumorals therapies: “PTOV1 is a good therapeutic target for developing new drugs which could block its activity and improve the efficiency of current treatments”. So this protein, as well as being involved in the development of tumors and metastasis, it also participates in the resistance to the effects of some drugs. According to the Spanish Cancer Association, every year in Spain nearly 25,000 new cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed and almost 6,000 men die. It is the cancer with the higher incidence among men and its survival rate during the five years after the diagnosis is near 65 years.