ArticleMedical oncology (Northwood, London, England)2022
SARS-CoV-2 spike protein inhibits growth of prostate cancer: a potential role of the COVID-19 vaccine killing two birds with one stone.
Article in Medical oncology (Northwood, London, England), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- SARS-CoV-2 spike protein exerts an anti-cancer effect in A549 cells in association with MEG3 and BCYRN1 regulation.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- SARS-CoV-2 spike treatment and transfection impairs airway epithelial repair.ERJ open research · 2025Article
- In vitro analysis suggests that SARS-CoV-2 infection differentially modulates cancer-like phenotypes and cytokine expression in colorectal and prostate cancer cells.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Prostate Cancer in Transplant Receivers-A Narrative Review on Oncological Outcomes.Biomedicines · 2023Review
- Apoptosis and Phagocytosis as Antiviral Mechanisms.Sub-cellular biochemistry · 2023Article
- Impact of COVID-19 on male urogenital health: Success of vaccines.Drug discovery today · 2022Review
- SARS-CoV-2 M Protein Facilitates Malignant Transformation of Breast Cancer Cells.Frontiers in oncology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
To investigate the effects of isolated SARS-CoV-2 spike protein on prostate cancer cell survival. The effects of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein on LNCaP prostate cancer cell survival were assessed using clonogenic cell survival assay, quick cell proliferation assay, and caspase-3 activity kits. RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry were performed to investigate underlying molecular mechanisms. SARS-CoV-2 spike protein was found to inhibit prostate cancer cell proliferation as well as promote apoptosis. Further investigation revealed that anti-proliferative effects were associated with downregulation of the pro-proliferative molecule cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (CDK4). The increased rate of apoptosis was associated with the upregulation of pro-apoptotic molecule Fas ligand (FasL). SARS-CoV-2 spike protein inhibits the growth of LNCaP prostate cancer cells in vitro by a two-pronged approach of downregulating the expression of CDK4 and upregulating FasL. The introduction of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein into the body via COVID-19 vaccination may have the potential to inhibit prostate cancer in patients. This potential beneficial association between COVID-19 vaccines and prostate cancer inhibition will require more extensive studies before any conclusions can be drawn about any in vivo effects in a human model.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.