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Research at Weill Cornell Medicine on two new prostate cancer subtypes could lead to new treatments that can help many men falling into these identifiable groups.

News of the discovery was released on May 31

It was a mixed bag of news as these two newly identified subgroups are resistant to treatment. However, identifying them and their characteristics will inevitably lead to new and different treatments, according to scientists.

About Prostate Cancers

Prostate cancer is one of the slower-growing types and already has many treatment options. These types of cancers need male hormones like testosterone to grow so reducing those can help fight the disease. Then, some resist current treatments.

Two New Subgroups

The two newly identified cancer subtypes are SCL and WNT. Researchers studied the RNA and DNA of 40 tumor samples, along with their chromatin. Chromatin is a mix of proteins and DNA that wraps up chromosomes in a cell. Looking at the chromatin helped the researchers identify the four types of prostate cancer cells, including the two new varieties. The scientists then looked at treatment resistance and saw SCL was in 22 to 30 percent of cases. WNT was only five to seven percent.