PYCARD and prostate cancer: PYCARD, also known as ASC or TMS1, mediates assembly of large signaling complexes in the inflammatory and apoptotic signaling pathways via the activation of caspase [30]; aberrant hypermethylation in the promoter regions has been reported in prostate cancers and a number of tumors including cancers of the breast, lung, and kidney, as well as melanoma and glioblastoma [26, 31–37].