Prostate stromal cells produce CXCL-1, CXCL-2, CXCL-3 and IL-8 in response to epithelia-secreted IL-1.

It is well accepted that tumor microenvironment is essential for tumor cells survival, cancer progression and metastasis. However, the mechanisms by which tumor cells interact with their surrounding at early stages of cancer development are largely unidentified. The aim of this study was to identify specific molecules involved in stromal-epithelial interactions that might contribute to early stages of prostate tumor formation. Here, we show that conditioned medium (CM) from immortalized non-transformed prostate epithelial cells stimulated immortalized prostate stromal cells to express cancer-related molecules. CM obtained from epithelial cells triggered stromal cells to express and secrete CXCL-1, CXCL-2, CXCL-3 and interleukin (IL)-8 chemokines. This effect was predominantly mediated by the cytokines of the IL-1 family secreted by the epithelial cells. Thus, prostate epithelial cells induced the secretion of proinflammatory and cancer-promoting chemokines by prostate stromal cells. Such interactions might contribute to prostatic inflammation and progression at early stages of prostate cancer formation.