Exosomes in semen: Opportunities as a new tool in prostate cancer diagnosis

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common cancer in men. Nowadays, it is diagnosed throughthe test of serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and rectal examination; however, there is still debate aboutthe PSA-based diagnosis. Seminal fluid (SF), contains a high concentration of subcellular lipid-boundmicroparticles, traditionally termed “prostasomes”, that are extracellular vesicles (EVs) released into theextracellular space by prostate gland’s epithelial cells. These vesicles, first described in 1982 promote motilityof sperm cells, regulation of sperm cell capacitation, acrosome reaction and immune suppression withinthe female reproductive tract. It was demonstrated that prostasomes could contain PCa specific molecularfingerprints that can represent the status of their parental cells. Until now the analysis of isolated prostasomesreleased by PCa cells has proved several advantages compared to the analysis of parental cells. Moreover, themolecular composition of prostasomes could reflect their capacity to influence PCa growth and metastasis. Inthis review, we discuss the role of prostasomes in PCa, focusing in the possibility of exosomes to represent anon-invasive test for PCa diagnosis and as a possible agent for enhance the sexual transmission diseases (STD)through immunomodulation.