Follistatin as potential therapeutic target in prostate cancer

Follistatin is a single-chain glycosylated proteinwhose primary function consists in binding and neutralizingsome members of the transforming growth factor-β superfamilysuch as activin and bone morphogenic proteins.Emerging evidence indicates that this molecule may alsoplay a role in the malignant progression of several humantumors including prostate cancer. In particular, recent findingssuggest that, in this tumor, follistatin may also contributeto the formation of bone metastasis through multiplemechanisms, some of which are not related to its specificactivin or bone morphogenic proteins’ inhibitory activity.This review provides insight into the most recent advancesin understanding the role of follistatin in the prostate cancerprogression and discusses the clinical and therapeutic implicationsrelated to these findings.