Studies have shown that, among the many processes regulating cell death, ceramide metabolism is a vital component.We have now shown that a major enzyme that catabolizes ceramide, acid ceramidase (AC) plays a key role in modulating cancer cell survival.Our previous studies revealed that AC is up-regulated in >60% of primary prostate cancers when compared to "normal" adjacent tissue.In vitro studies indicate it plays a role in tumor progression, migration and therapeutic drug resistance.This study implicates AC as a critical regulator of PCa progression by affecting not only tumor cell proliferation and migration but also responses to drug therapy, suggesting AC as a potential therapeutic target in advanced PCa.The exact mechanism of AC induced resistance is unknown.However, we have recently performed microarray analysis on 9 AC overexpressing DU145 ceils and 3 vector control clones.