{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,5]],"date-time":"2025-11-05T05:35:55Z","timestamp":1762320955391,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":5,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,5]],"date-time":"2025-11-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1762300800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Oncol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>SARS-CoV-2 exploits TMPRSS2, an androgen-regulated protease highly expressed in prostate tissue, to enter host cells. While inflammation is a recognized promoter of oncogenesis, the possibility that viral prostatitis could precede prostate cancer has not been previously reported.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Case presentation<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We describe the case of a 55-year-old male with no family history of prostate or breast cancer and no germline pathogenic variants on next-generation sequencing (NGS), who developed lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and PSA elevation shortly after a second COVID-19 infection. Multiparametric MRI initially demonstrated diffuse PI-RADS 4 changes compatible with prostatitis. Although symptoms improved with antibiotics, LUTS persisted and were managed with finasteride and doxazosin. Over the following two years, serial imaging revealed progression to a long, poorly demarcated PI-RADS 5 lesion extending from apex to base in the right posterior peripheral zone, and a smaller PI-RADS 4 lesion on the left. Targeted biopsy confirmed acinar adenocarcinoma (Gleason 7 and 6 in 16 of 26 cores). PET-PSMA showed disease confined to the prostate. The patient underwent neoadjuvant therapy with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) plus a novel hormonal agent (NHA) from April 14 to October 15, 2024, resulting in significant tumor reduction. Radical prostatectomy on November 1, 2024 revealed a small residual acinar adenocarcinoma focus with perineural invasion, negative surgical margins, and molecular evidence of TMPRSS2::ERG gene fusion and PTEN loss.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This is the first documented case suggesting a potential link between COVID-19-related prostatitis and subsequent prostate cancer in a TMPRSS2::ERG-altered patient without hereditary predisposition. Although causality cannot be established, the findings highlight a hypothesis-generating interface between viral infection, inflammation, and oncogenesis that warrants further study.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fonc.2025.1679663","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,5]],"date-time":"2025-11-05T05:20:19Z","timestamp":1762320019000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Prostate cancer evolution after COVID-19-related prostatitis in a TMPRSS2-altered patient: a case report and review of the molecular interface between SARS-CoV-2 and prostate oncogenesis"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Fabricio Borges","family":"Carrerette","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Magda Concei\u00e7\u00e3o Barbosa","family":"Gomes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Romulo Varella","family":"de Oliveira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Fabio","family":"Santiago","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Janice Chicarino","family":"Coelho","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Daniela Bouzas","family":"Rodeiro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ana Beatriz da Silva","family":"Polonia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Felipe Vaz Chil\u00e3o","family":"Guedes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alexandre Rodrigues","family":"Oliveira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/jcmm.16385","article-title":"Prostate adenocarcinoma and COVID-19: The possible impacts of TMPRSS2 expressions in susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2","volume":"25","author":"Cheng","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Cell Mol Med"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.meegid.2020.104669","article-title":"COVID-19 pathogenesis in prostatic cancer and TMPRSS2-ERG regulatory genetic pathway","volume":"88","author":"Afshari","year":"2021","journal-title":"Infect Genet Evol"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e30","DOI":"10.5808\/gi.22012","article-title":"Potential molecular links between SARS-CoV-2 infection and prostate cancer progression","volume":"20","author":"Lee","year":"2022","journal-title":"Genomics Inform"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/diseases12070157","article-title":"COVID-19 and prostatitis: A review of current evidence","volume":"12","author":"Daneshwar","year":"2024","journal-title":"Diseases"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s42003-020-1088-9","article-title":"Sex differences in SARS-CoV-2 infection rates and the potential link to prostate cancer","volume":"3","author":"Chakravarty","year":"2020","journal-title":"Commun Biol"}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Oncology"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fonc.2025.1679663\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,5]],"date-time":"2025-11-05T05:20:19Z","timestamp":1762320019000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fonc.2025.1679663\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,5]]},"references-count":5,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fonc.2025.1679663"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fonc.2025.1679663","relation":{},"ISSN":["2234-943X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2234-943X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,5]]},"article-number":"1679663"}}