image: Figure 3: Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and Immunofluorescence (IF) analysis of MD2 expression and immune cell infiltration in prostate cancer tissues. (Upper panel) Representative IF images showing myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs; CD11b/CD33) and corresponding IHC staining for MD2 in patient tissues with varying prostate cancer (PCa) grades, metastatic lesions, and histologically normal adjacent tissue (NAT). (Lower panel) Representative IF images showing regulatory Tcell (Treg; CD25/Foxp3) infiltration and corresponding IHC staining for MD2 in PCa tissues with different tumor grades, metastasis, and NAT.
Credit: Copyright: © 2026 Dattilo et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
“Additionally, we show that soluble MD2 (sMD2) may serve as a non-invasive biomarker of metastatic burden and help predict resistance to poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor therapy.”
BUFFALO, NY — April 1, 2026 — A new research perspective was published in Volume 13 of Oncoscience on March 11, 2026, titled “Targeting MD2 in prostate cancer bone metastasis: Mechanistic insights and therapeutic potential.”
Led by co-first authors Melina A. Dattilo from Universidad de Buenos Aires and CONICET–Universidad de Buenos Aires, and Marina G. Ferrari from Rush University Medical Center, with corresponding author Adrian P. Mansini from Rush University Medical Center, the perspective builds on prior work identifying MD2/LY96 as a biomarker associated with poor prognosis and metastatic potential in prostate cancer. The authors also present new preclinical data showing that pharmacological MD2 inhibition reduces tumor growth in a mouse model of prostate cancer bone metastasis.
In patient tumor tissues, high MD2 expression was associated not only with metastasis but also with increased infiltration of T regulatory cells and myeloid-derived suppressor cells, consistent with an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. The study also reports that soluble MD2 may help predict metastatic burden and resistance to PARP inhibitor therapy, supporting MD2 as both a therapeutic target and a potential biomarker in metastatic prostate cancer.
“These findings support MD2 as a novel therapeutic target and identify soluble MD2 as a promising predictive and prognostic biomarker in metastatic PCa, with mechanistic links to immune evasion and inflammatory signaling.”
The authors note that these findings remain preclinical and require further validation in additional models and clinical cohorts. Next steps include testing MD2 inhibition in broader prostate cancer systems, clarifying how MD2 shapes immune evasion and bone colonization, and evaluating whether soluble MD2 can serve as a practical biomarker for treatment response and metastatic burden.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18632/oncoscience.647
Correspondence to: Adrian P. Mansini – adrian_mansini@rush.edu
Abstract video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-HYF1ktBoo
Keywords: cancer, prostate cancer, metastasis, MD2, biomarkers
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Journal
Oncoscience
Method of Research
News article
Subject of Research
Not applicable
Article Title
Targeting MD2 in prostate cancer bone metastasis: Mechanistic insights and therapeutic potential
Article Publication Date
11-Mar-2026
COI Statement
Authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.