Inflammation is a risk factor for prostate cancer, but the mechanisms by which inflammation
increases that risk are poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that low expression of
CD38 identifies a progenitor-like subset of luminal cells in the human prostate. CD38 lo
luminal cells are enriched in glands adjacent to inflammatory cells and exhibit epithelial
nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) signaling. In response to oncogenic transformation, CD38 lo
luminal cells can initiate human prostate cancer in an in vivo tissue-regeneration assay …

Editorial Comment: The authors report that expression of the luminal cell marker CD38 is
heterogeneous in the human prostate. They used low expression of CD38 to isolate a
subset of p63 negative, keratin 14 negative, keratin 18 positive luminal cells from primary
benign human prostate with unique functional and molecular properties compared to
CD38hi luminal cells. Human prostate CD38lo luminal cells are expanded in regions with
inflammation, express markers of proliferative inflammatory atrophy and are enriched for …