• mice develop large, invasive prostate tumors with androgen receptor (AR)-negative and poorly differentiated foci as early as 8 weeks
• these regions show little resemblance to conventional adenocarcinoma but are negative for neuroendocrine markers, potentially as a transition between conventional adenocarcinoma and neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) states
• some foci are positive for neuroendocrine markers INSM1, EZH2, and NKX2-1 and some foci display condensed nuclei and scant cytoplasm, characteristic of NEPC morphology
• tumors also include other foci of divergent differentiation like intestinal and squamous, as well as conventional, AR+ adenocarcinoma, but the percentage of conventional adenocarcinoma decreases over time while the percentage of poorly differentiated histology increases over time
• mice do not respond to surgical castration and continue to grow tumors rapidly
• post-castration tumors harbor foci enriched with divergent differentiated histology compared to adenocarcinoma and increased metastatic potential