FGFR1-WNT-TGF-β Signaling in Prostate Cancer Mouse Models Recapitulates Human Reactive Stroma

The reactive stroma surrounding tumor lesions performs critical roles ranging from supporting tumor cell proliferation to inducing tumorigenesis and metastasis. Therefore, it is critical to understand the cellular components and signaling control mechanisms that underlie the etiology of reactive stroma. Previous studies have individually implicated fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1) and canonical WNT/beta-catenin signaling in prostate cancer progression and the initiation and maintenance of a reactive stroma; however, both pathways are frequently found to be coactivated in cancer tissue. Using autochthonous transgenic mouse models for inducible FGFR1 (JOCK1) and prostate-specific and ubiquitously expressed inducible beta-catenin (Pro-Cat and Ubi-Cat, respectively) and bigenic crosses between these lines (Pro-Cat x JOCK1 and Ubi-Cat x JOCK1), we describe WNT-induced synergistic acceleration of FGFR1-driven adenocarcinoma, associated with a pronounced fibroblastic reactive stroma activation surrounding prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (mPIN) lesions found both in in situ and reconstitution assays. Both mouse and human reactive stroma exhibited increased transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) signaling adjacent to pathologic lesions likely contributing to invasion. Furthermore, elevated stromal TGF-beta signaling was associated with higher Gleason scores in archived human biopsies, mirroring murine patterns. Our findings establish the importance of the FGFR1-WNT-TGF-beta signaling axes as driving forces behind reactive stroma in aggressive prostate adenocarcinomas, deepening their relevance as therapeutic targets.