19 replies to this topic

[kevin]

http://www.eurekaler...b-dtm081403.php

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Public release date: 14-Aug-2003

Contact: Karen Richardson
krchrdsn@wfubmc.edu
336-716-4587
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center

Drug that mimics vitamin d hormone may boost effectiveness of prostate cancer treatment,
report from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – A drug designed to mimic the effects of Vitamin D hormone may be able to boost the effectiveness of radiation treatment for prostate cancer, report researchers from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in the current on-line edition of the British Journal of Cancer.
"About 30 percent of men with locally advanced prostate cancer fail radiation therapy because the cancerous cells become resistant to treatment," said Constantinos Koumenis, Ph.D., lead researcher. "Any agent that increases the cancer cells' sensitivity to radiation, without significantly affecting normal cells, would be of great benefit."

Increasing radiation dose is not always a treatment option because it can affect urinary, bowel and sexual function. In laboratory studies, Wake Forest researchers found that Zemplar, a drug manufactured to mimic vitamin D hormone (the active form of vitamin D) worked in synergy with radiation therapy to kill cancer cells and prevent cancer cell multiplication, while having little effect on normal cells.

With the combination of Zemplar and external beam radiation therapy, researchers were able to lower the radiation dose by 2.4 times and get the same results as when radiation was the sole treatment.

"These results are very promising, but they must be duplicated in animal studies before being tested in humans," said Koumenis, an assistant professor of radiation oncology.

The Wake Forest study is the first to show that Zemplar can sensitize cancer cells to radiation treatment. Previous laboratory studies showed that the drug can reduce the proliferation, or growth, of tumor cells.

Zemplar is one of several drugs designed to mimic vitamin D hormone, and is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It is used to treat high levels of parathyroid hormone and is being studied as a cancer treatment. Vitamin D hormone, also known as calcitriol, is not itself a viable treatment because in large doses it can lead to excess calcium in the blood and affect bone metabolism and structure.

"The fact that Zemplar is already approved means it could be used in treatment sooner," said Koumenis. "We've shown that the combination of Zemplar and radiation are synergistic in tumor cells, but much less so in normal cells. This means we could potentially increase the killing of the tumor cells, while minimizing the damage to normal cells."

The researchers tested the treatment in prostate cancer cells taken from recent patients, as well as in a collection of tumor cells, called a "cell line," that had been circulated among scientists for many years.

"Because cell lines have been studied for so many years, some scientists question whether they truly reflect the biology of prostate tumors," said Koumenis. "The ability of our collaborative team to isolate 'fresh' tumor cells from patients allowed us to look at both; and we found the same effects in both groups of cells."

The research was a collaborative effort between Koumenis; Scott Cramer, Ph.D., assistant professor of cancer biology; and Gary Schwartz, Ph.D., associate professor of cancer biology and scientific director of the Prostate Cancer Center of Excellence. The researchers have applied for funding to continue their research by studying the treatment in animals, where they hope to learn more about the optimum dose and timing of the combination therapy.

In the study, the researchers also compared Zemplar with vitamin D hormone, or calcitriol. Zemplar is designed to mimic the effects of calcitriol, without its side effects. The researchers found the Zemplar was just as effective as calcitriol when used in combination with radiation therapy.

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed non-skin cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death in men in the United States.

Small amounts of vitamin D are present in foods such as tuna, salmon and vitamin-fortified milk, although most vitamin D is made in the body after casual exposure to sunlight. The vitamin exists in several forms, some of which are inactive. The liver and kidneys help convert vitamin D to its active form, calcitriol, also known as vitamin D hormone. Its role is to increase calcium absorption from the intestine and promote normal bone formation.


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Media Contacts: Karen Richardson, (krchrdsn@wfubmc.edu), Mark Wright (mwright@wfubmc.edu) at 336-716-4587
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Notes: The article below echoes the findings of previous studies which indicate that Vitamin D itself is effective in increasing the effectiveness of cancer therapy for more cancers than just that of the prostate. I have to wonder if they are trying to develop a more effective form of vitamin D or are they just trying to make one different so they can charge more money.. ?

08-27-03 : Apparently Zemplary doesn't cause the same elevation in blood calcium that accompanies treatment with Vit D or it's more potent analogue Calcitriol

Edited by kevin, 28 August 2003 - 03:53 AM.

[chubtoad]

http://www.scienceda...31105064728.htm
Source: University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign
Date: 2003-11-05

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Lycopene's Anti-cancer Effect Linked To Other Tomato Components

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- New research suggests that lycopene -- a carotenoid in tomatoes that has been linked to a lowered risk of prostate cancer -- does not act alone. Scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Ohio State University say that lycopene's punch is stronger in combination with other phytochemicals in the fruit.

Lycopene is an antioxidant and the pigment that provides the red color of tomatoes. Because of recent epidemiological studies suggestive of lycopene's role against prostate cancer, the compound has made its way into dietary supplements. These new findings, based on a comprehensive prostate-cancer survival study done on rats, indicate that a combination of the bioactive compounds may offer the best anti-cancer effect.

"It has been unclear whether lycopene itself is protective. This study suggests that lycopene is one factor involved in reducing the risk of prostate cancer," said John Erdman Jr., a professor of food science and human nutrition and of internal medicine at Illinois. "This also suggests that taking lycopene as a dietary supplement is not as effective as eating whole tomatoes. We believe people should consume whole tomato products -- in pastas, in salads, in tomato juice and even on pizza."

The study, which lasted 14 months, appears in the Nov. 5 Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Researchers now suggest that the lycopene found in human prostate tissue and the blood of animals and humans who remain disease free may reflect heightened exposure not just to lycopene but also to other compounds that may be working in synergy with it.

In the new study, researchers in Erdman's laboratory at Illinois randomly assigned 194 male rats treated with a carcinogen to induce prostate cancer to diets containing whole tomato powder, pure lycopene or a control.

Four weeks later, the rats were divided into two groups, with one having unlimited access to food and the second consuming 80 percent of the first's average daily intake. At the conclusion of the feeding portion of the study, histological studies on all of the rats' tissues and blood were done at Ohio State under the direction of Dr. Steven K. Clinton. Clinton earned a doctorate in nutritional sciences from Illinois and a medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine.

Researchers found that the rats that had consumed the tomato powder had a 26 percent lower risk of prostate cancer death than control rats, after controlling for diet restriction. The rats fed pure lycopene had a risk of prostate cancer similar to control rats.

"Tomato powder consumption clearly extended the life and reduced the cancer in this particular model," Erdman said. "Lycopene was a little better than the control group but not as good as the tomato powder group."

In the end, prostate cancer had claimed the lives of 80 percent of the control group, 72 percent of the lycopene-fed rats and 62 percent of the rats fed tomato powder. Rats on the restricted diet had an even lower risk of developing prostate cancer, independent of their diets. The researchers suggest that tomato products and diet restriction may have independent additive benefits.

Other unpublished data in cell culture studies support the idea that lycopene's role is enhanced in the presence of other phytochemicals in tomatoes, Erdman said. His lab also is collaborating in studies finding that higher blood levels of lycopene in human serum correlates to lower risks of prostate cancer, especially in men over age 65. That work is part of an on-going, long-term study of more than 51,500 male health professionals by the Harvard University School of Public Health.

Erdman, who was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies in October, Clinton and colleagues say that more work is needed to understand the role of the various phytochemicals in tomatoes and to determine whether there are additive or synergistic effects among the compounds.

"Our findings strongly suggest that risks of poor dietary habits cannot be reversed simply by taking a pill," Clinton, a professor of hematology and oncology and of human nutrition, said in an Ohio State news release. "We shouldn't expect easy solutions to complex problems. We must focus more on choosing a variety of healthy foods, exercising and watching our weight."

Animal-based studies, such as this one involving rats, Erdman said, expand on the epidemiologic findings regarding reduced cancer risks and could pave the way for human clinical trials using tomato products or extracts to protect against the development of prostate cancer.

[chubtoad]

http://www.scienceda...31106051745.htm
Source: Ohio State University
Date: 2003-11-06



Dietary Supplement Many Not Lower Prostate Cancer Risk


COLUMBUS, Ohio – A tomato a day may help keep prostate cancer at bay -- but a widely used dietary supplement derived from tomatoes may not be sufficient. That's the conclusion of the first animal study comparing the cancer-preventing potential of tomato products to that of lycopene, a substance extracted from tomatoes and taken by many men in hopes of warding off prostate cancer.

Research by scientists at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute and their colleagues showed that rats with prostate cancer survived longer when fed a diet that included whole tomato products but not when fed the same diet plus lycopene. The effect was most apparent when the animals' food intake was modestly restricted. The study was published in the Nov. 4 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

"Our findings strongly suggest that risks of poor dietary habits cannot be reversed simply by taking a pill," says study co-author Steven K. Clinton, associate professor of hematology and oncology and of human nutrition. "We shouldn't expect easy solutions to complex problems. We must focus more on choosing a variety of healthy foods, exercising and watching our weight."
A number of earlier studies have suggested that eating tomatoes and tomato products such as sauce, paste and soup is associated with a lower prostate-cancer risk. Scientists proposed that lycopene, a potent antioxidant and the substance that makes tomatoes red, gives the fruit its anti-cancer properties.

Clinton and his colleagues first separated 194 rats with prostate cancer into three groups. A control group was fed a balanced diet containing no detectable lycopene. The second group received the control diet plus lycopene, and a third group received the control diet mixed with tomato powder made from tomato paste that included seeds and skins.

Additionally, each group was subdivided into an energy-restricted group and an energy-unrestricted group. Animals in the unrestricted group received as much food as they wanted; energy-restricted animals received 20 percent less food than the unrestricted group. The experiment lasted about 14 months.

Rats in the tomato-fed, energy-unrestricted group showed a longer prostate-cancer free survival compared to controls. Their risk of dying from prostate cancer dropped by 26 percent. Animals in the tomato-fed, energy-restricted group fared even better, showing a 32 percent drop in risk. No benefit from lycopene alone was seen in either the energy-restricted or unrestricted groups.

"Our study does not say that lycopene is useless," Clinton says. "Instead it suggests that if we want the health benefits of tomatoes, we should eat tomatoes or tomato products and not rely on lycopene supplements alone."

Along with Clinton, John W. Erdman, Jr., professor of nutritional sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Thomas W.-M. Boileau, post doctoral fellow; Zhiming Liao, research scientist; Sunny Kim, statistician; Stanley A. Lemeshow, professor of public health and director, Biostatistics Program, all from Ohio State, also worked on the project.

[chubtoad]

http://www.scienceda...31124070918.htm
Source: Henry Ford Health System
Date: 2003-11-24

Study Shows Combining Gene Therapy And Radiation Holds Promise

DETROIT – A novel approach that combines gene therapy and radiation therapy for treating prostate cancer has shown promising results for its safety and effectiveness, according to Henry Ford Hospital researchers.

The study, published in this month's edition of Cancer Research, shows that patients experienced no significant side effects when treated with gene therapy and radiation therapy. It also showed that the treatment lowered patients' prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and eliminated the cancer in many of them.

PSA is a protein produced by the prostate. By measuring its level, doctors can monitor prostate cancer growth as well as the effectiveness of standard and investigational treatments.

All 15 patients enrolled in the study experienced significant declines in their PSA – from an average of 12 to below one – and 10 of them were cancer-free after one year. The patients had an aggressive form of prostate cancer that, if treated with standard radiation therapy alone, would likely recur and possibly spread.

While the results are encouraging, researchers say more research is needed and the novel treatment needs to be tested in a larger randomized clinical trial, which is planned for next year.

"Our belief is that gene therapy could make conventional cancer therapies such as radiation therapy more effective," says Svend Freytag, Ph.D., division head of Henry Ford's Radiation Oncology Research and lead author of the study.

The study is the first of its kind in the world to test the safety and effectiveness of a replication-competent virus in combination with radiation therapy. The replication-competent virus used in the treatment – the one associated with the common cold – has been shown to enhance the gene therapy's effectiveness by spreading the gene therapy to nearby cells after it is injected into the prostate.

The virus kills the cancerous cells, but leaves normal ones undamaged. When combined with the gene therapy, it enhances the virus' effect by rendering the malignant cells sensitive to radiation therapy.

An estimated 220,900 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed this year, and nearly 29,000 men will die of it, according to the American Cancer Society. Prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in men, after lung cancer.

[chubtoad]

http://www.scienceda...31223063015.htm
Source: University Of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Date: 2003-12-26

University Of Pittsburgh Studies Broccoli-derived Chemicals To Prevent Prostate Cancer

PITTSBURGH, Dec. 22 – Fruits and vegetables are good for overall health, and a newly funded study at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) may show that certain vegetables, such as broccoli, also offer protection against prostate cancer.

Chemical In Broccoli Blocks Growth Of Prostate Cancer Cells, New Study Shows

Move Over Tomatoes! All Vegetables -- Especially The Cruciferous Kind -- May Prevent Prostate Cancer
Cancer Protection Compound Abundant In Broccoli Sprouts, Johns Hopkins Scientists Find

UPCI researcher Shivendra Singh, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology and urology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, has received a $1.7 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to study prostate cancer prevention by phytochemicals found in broccoli called isothiocyanates (ITCs).

"Clearly, what we eat has an effect on the development of diseases such as cancer," said Dr. Singh, also co-leader of UPCI's cancer biochemoprevention program. "However, we know little about the mechanisms by which certain edible plants like broccoli help our bodies fight prostate cancer and other diseases. Our goal with this study is to better understand the function and relationship of substances in broccoli that appear to be linked to inhibiting prostate cancer growth."

ITCs are substances in vegetables that are generated when vegetables are either cut or chewed. Previous research has demonstrated that ITCs are highly effective in affording protection against cancer in animal models induced by carcinogens including those in tobacco smoke. Epidemiological research also has shown that increased consumption of vegetables that contain ITCs significantly reduces the risk for prostate cancer.

Dr. Singh's laboratory has found that some naturally occurring ITCs are highly effective in suppressing the growth of human prostate cancer cells at concentrations that are achievable through dietary intake of cruciferous vegetables such as watercress and broccoli. In his current study, Dr. Singh seeks to further define the mechanisms by which ITCs induce apoptosis, or cancer cell death, to provide insights into the key structural relationships between ITCs and cell processes and to identify potential biomarkers that could be useful for future intervention trials involving ITCs.

"The knowledge we gain from this study will help guide us in formulating practical and effective nutritional strategies for the prevention and treatment of prostate cancer," said Dr. Singh. In addition to studies involving broccoli, Dr. Singh also is examining the effect of garlic on prostate cancer prevention.
In the United States, only 23 percent of adults eat five or more fruits and vegetables per day.

[chubtoad]

http://www.scienceda...40311071013.htm
Source: University Of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Date: 2004-03-12

Novel Prostate Cancer Marker May Lead To Earlier Diagnosis And Fewer Repeat Bioposies

PITTSBURGH, March 11 – Findings published in this month's issue of the Journal of Urology indicate that prostate cancer could be detected as many as five years earlier than it is currently being diagnosed by testing for a protein in tissue that indicates the presence of early disease. The researchers suggest that testing for the protein, EPCA, could serve as an adjunct to the current diagnostic approach to patients with elevated levels of prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, who undergo repeat needle biopsies. PSA, a substance in the blood released by the prostate gland, is commonly used to check for signs of prostate cancer and other prostate problems.

"One of the problems with testing for levels of PSA as an indicator of prostate cancer is that PSA levels often fluctuate up and down, making it difficult to know for certain whether a man has prostate cancer without performing multiple biopsies over time," said Robert Getzenberg, Ph.D., senior author and professor of urology, pathology and pharmacology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "By testing for EPCA in men with high levels of PSA, we may be able to detect the presence of prostate cancer earlier, before it is discoverable by biopsy, saving patients the fear and stress of repeat procedures and enabling us to treat the disease sooner."

Dr. Getzenberg explained that EPCA is a marker protein that indicates the earliest changes that occur in cells during the development of cancer.

In the study, Dr. Getzenberg, also co-director of the Prostate and Urologic Cancer Program at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, and colleagues developed antibodies against EPCA to detect its presence in tissue. They compared 27 non-diseased control tissue samples to 29 tissue samples from patients with prostate cancer who had initial negative biopsies. They found that the samples from the negative biopsies of those patients who were eventually diagnosed with prostate cancer expressed EPCA and that EPCA was not expressed in tissue samples from individuals without disease. They also found that EPCA was not only expressed in the tumor, but throughout the prostate in men with prostate cancer indicating its usefulness as a prognostic marker for prostate cancer.

A multi-center study is currently underway to further assess the usefulness of EPCA and its possible use as a biomarker for prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer exceeds lung cancer as the most commonly diagnosed cancer among men in the United States with 220,900 new cases and 28,900 deaths in 2003. More than 70 percent of all prostate cancer cases are diagnosed in men over age 65.

[chubtoad]

http://www.scienceda...40318073044.htm
Source: Rutgers, The State University Of New Jersey
Date: 2004-03-18

Can A Plant That Acts Like Poison Ivy Cure Prostate Cancer?

Can A Plant That Acts Like Poison Ivy Cure Prostate Cancer?
NEW BRUNSWICK/PISCATAWAY, N.J. – A shrub found in Southeast Asia can give you a rash like poison ivy; but it may also stop prostate cancer.

The croton plant, long known to oriental herbalists and homeopaths as a purgative, has an oil in its seeds that shows promise for the treatment of prostate cancer – the second leading cause of cancer death in men in the United States. The active ingredient in the oil is 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate, a compound generally known as TPA.

The finding was reported in the March 1, 2004, issue of Cancer Research by Xi Zheng, Allan Conney and other scientists at the Susan Lehman Cullman Laboratory for Cancer Research at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and the Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ).

"We demonstrated that TPA could simultaneously stop the growth of new prostate cancer cells, kill existing cancer cells and ultimately shrink prostate tumors," said Conney, the William M. and Myrle W. Garbe Professor of Cancer and Leukemia Research at Rutgers' Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, and a member of CINJ.

In addition to studies on the effect of TPA alone, the researchers also tested TPA in combination with all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), a vitamin A derivative previously shown to be effective in treating leukemia.

"We knew that ATRA is an effective synergist with TPA in treating leukemia cells in the laboratory, but prostate cancer is a different situation, probably involving different molecular mechanisms," Conney said.

The studies by Zheng and Conney are the first to show an impressive synergy between TPA and ATRA in inhibiting the growth of cultured prostate cancer cells and the first to assess their combined effects, and the effects of TPA alone, on human tumors grown in mice.

Scientists, intrigued by the skin-irritating property of croton seed oil, demonstrated more than 50 years ago that croton oil and its constituent TPA promoted tumors in laboratory animals following the introduction of a strong carcinogen at a low dose. Subsequent laboratory tests, however, produced dramatically different outcomes.

"It turned out that extremely low concentrations of TPA had an extraordinarily potent effect on myeloid leukemia cells, causing them to revert to normal cell behavior," Conney explained.

However, it was a long time before anyone acknowledged that TPA could actually do good things for people, Conney observed.

Investigators at China's Henan Tumor Research Institute and Rutgers, interested in the potential beneficial effects of TPA, began a collaborative study in 1995. When TPA was administered to terminally ill myeloid leukemia patients in China, the number of leukemia cells in the blood and bone marrow decreased and there were remissions of the disease.

"We are clearly encouraged by our laboratory results with TPA and ATRA on prostate cancer cells," Conney said. "Our studies are an important early step in a long process, and we are planning additional testing in humans. Further research with these compounds and others could provide hope for the half million new cases of prostate cancer each year."

[chubtoad]

http://www.scienceda...40329074633.htm

Higher serum á:-tocopherol and ã:-tocopherol concentrations are associated with lower prostate cancer risk

Two forms of vitamin E - á:- and ã:-tocopherol - appear to lower the risk of prostate cancer by as much as 53 percent and 39 percent, respectively, based on the findings of a team of scientists from the National Cancer Institute, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle and the National Public Health Institute of Finland.

The researchers, led by Stephanie J. Weinstein, M.S., Ph.D., and Demetrius Albanes, M.D., of the NCI Nutritional Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, drew their subjects from the á:-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study cohort of 29,133 Finnish men, aged between 50 and 69 years. From that group were selected 100 men with prostate cancer and 200 without, to determine whether there exists an association between higher levels of á:-tocopherol and ã:-tocopherol circulating in the blood stream and lower risks of prostate cancer. The ATBC Study previously had demonstrated a 32 percent reduction in the rate of prostate cancer among men who took 50 mg of á:-tocopherol per day for a period of five to eight years.

Since the baseline value for serum levels of á:-tocopherol and ã:-tocopherol in this study came from blood drawn before men in the ATBC trial started taking any pills, use of vitamin E supplements was a factor only if the participants had been taking them already. Ten percent had, leaving 90 percent whose serum levels of á:-tocopherol and ã:-tocopherol could be attributed exclusively to dietary intake. In addition, in keeping with earlier findings, the men who were randomized to receive a vitamin E supplement as part of the ATBC trial and who had the highest serum vitamin E levels at baseline displayed the lowest risk of prostate cancer.

"Nuts and seeds, whole grain products, vegetable oils, salad dressings, margarine, beans, peas and other vegetables are good dietary sources of vitamin E," Weinstein said.

She explained the striking difference in the relative amounts of á:-tocopherol and ã:-tocopherol in the body compared to dietary contents.

"Even though ã:-tocopherol is by far more prevalent in U.S. diets," noted Weinstein, "á:-tocopherol is found in greater concentrations in the blood. That is at least in part because a protein in the liver called á:-tocopherol transfer protein preferentially binds á:-tocopherol and secretes it into the plasma."

Weinstein further noted that one principal dietary difference between Finns and Americans is the type of cooking oils used. "The Finns generally eat more canola oil," she said, "while Americans favor corn or soybean oils. Canola oil is richer in á:-tocopherol and offers the added benefit of being lower in saturated fat."

To achieve optimum serum levels of á:- and ã:-tocopherols, Weinstein recommends following the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. They call for eating more fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and fewer fats and sugars.

[chubtoad]

http://pubs.ama-assn...dtl#ejaculation

High Ejaculation Frequency May Be Linked To A Decreased Risk Of Prostate Cancer

CHICAGO—Ejaculation frequency, a measure of sexual activity, is not associated with a higher risk for prostate cancer, according to a study in the April 7 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). However, a high ejaculation frequency may be linked to a decreased risk of prostate cancer.

Sexual activity has been hypothesized to play a role in the development of prostate cancer, according to background information in the article. Given that sexual activity is common and that prostate cancer risk is high, any association between these factors would have clinical and public health relevance.

Michael F. Leitzmann, M.D., of the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Md., and colleagues examined the association between ejaculation frequency (which includes sexual intercourse, nocturnal emission, and masturbation) and risk of prostate cancer. The study used follow-up data from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (February 1, 1992, through January 31, 2000) of 29,342 men in the U.S., aged 46 to 81 years, who provided information on history of ejaculation frequency on a self-administered questionnaire in 1992 and responded to follow-up questionnaires every 2 years to 2000. Ejaculation frequency was assessed by asking participants to report the average number of ejaculations they had per month during the ages of 20 to 29 years, 40 to 49 years, and during the past year (1991).

Among the participants, there were 1,449 new cases of total prostate cancer, 953 organ-confined cases, and 147 advanced cases of prostate cancer.

"In this prospective cohort study among predominantly white men, higher ejaculation frequency was not related to increased risk of prostate cancer. Our results suggest that high ejaculation frequency possibly may be associated with a lower risk of total and organ-confined prostate cancer. These associations were not explained by potential risk factors for prostate cancer, such as age, family history of prostate cancer, history of syphilis or gonorrhea, smoking, and diet," the authors write.

[Cyto]

DNA research highlights prostate cancer mechanisms

Certain prostate cancer cell lines are unable to repair DNA damage caused by "free radicals," according to scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and National Institutes of Health (NIH). This type of damage has been implicated before in the development of prostate cancer, but the new research, described in the March 25 online edition of Carcinogenesis, provides the first solid evidence that the normal repair process is altered in prostate cancer cells, possibly leading to a cascade of events that culminate in further DNA damage and cellular dysfunction.

[chubtoad]

http://www.scienceda...40510012315.htm

High Blood Testosterone Levels Associated With Increased Prostate Cancer Risk

Men over 50 years of age with high blood levels of testosterone have an increased risk of prostate cancer, according to a study by researchers at Johns Hopkins and the National Institute on Aging. The finding throws some doubt on the safety of testosterone replacement therapy, the investigators say.

The researchers measured several forms of testosterone in almost 3,000 blood samples collected over a 40-year period from 759 men in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging, of whom 111 were diagnosed with prostate cancer. One form of testosterone, called free testosterone, which is biologically active and can actually be used by the prostate, was found to be associated with increased prostate cancer risk, according to J. Kellogg Parsons, M.D., instructor of urology at the Brady Urological Institute at Johns Hopkins and lead researcher of the study.

"Since testosterone replacement therapy increases the amount of free testosterone in the blood, older men considering or receiving testosterone replacement should be counseled as to the association until data from long-term clinical trials becomes available," says Parsons.

The association between free testosterone and prostate cancer risk in older men was not affected by height, weight, percent of body fat, or muscle mass. Total testosterone levels and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), another androgenic hormone, were also unrelated to prostate cancer risk, while the protein that binds testosterone in blood, called sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), was associated with a slightly decreased risk for prostate cancer.

[chubtoad]

http://www.scienceda...40510013046.htm

Prostate Cancer Marker Could Lead To Earlier Diagnosis Say Pittsburgh Researchers

SAN FRANCISCO, May 9 – Findings presented at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA) indicate that prostate cancer could be detected as many as five years earlier than it is currently being diagnosed by testing for a protein in tissue that indicates the presence of early disease. The University of Pittsburgh researchers suggest that testing for the protein, called early prostate cancer antigen (EPCA), could serve as an adjunct to the current diagnostic approach to patients with elevated levels of prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, who undergo repeat needle biopsies. PSA, a substance in the blood released by the prostate gland, is commonly used to check for signs of prostate cancer and other prostate problems. Results are published in abstract 640 of the AUA proceedings.

"One of the problems with testing for levels of PSA as an indicator of prostate cancer is that PSA levels often fluctuate, making it difficult to know for certain whether a man has prostate cancer without performing multiple biopsies over time," said Robert Getzenberg, Ph.D., senior author and professor of urology, pathology and pharmacology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "By testing for EPCA in men with high levels of PSA, we may be able to detect the presence of prostate cancer earlier, before it is discoverable by biopsy, saving patients the fear and stress of repeat procedures and enabling us to treat the disease sooner."

Dr. Getzenberg explained that EPCA is a marker protein that indicates the earliest changes that occur in cells during the development of cancer.

In the study, Dr. Getzenberg, also co-director of the Prostate and Urologic Cancer Program at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, and colleagues developed antibodies against EPCA to detect its presence in tissue. They compared 27 non-diseased control tissue samples to 29 tissue samples from patients with prostate cancer who had initial negative biopsies. They found that the samples from the negative biopsies of those patients who were eventually diagnosed with prostate cancer expressed EPCA and that EPCA was not expressed in tissue samples from individuals without disease. They also found that EPCA was not only expressed in the tumor, but throughout the prostate in men with prostate cancer indicating its usefulness as a prognostic marker for prostate cancer.

A multi-center study is currently underway to further assess the usefulness of EPCA and its possible use as a biomarker for prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer exceeds lung cancer as the most commonly diagnosed cancer among men in the United States, with 220,900 new cases and 28,900 deaths in 2003. More than 70 percent of all prostate cancer cases are diagnosed in men over age 65.

[chubtoad]

http://www.eurekaler...ct/medicine.php

Docetaxel extends life in advanced prostate cancer patients

Should be 'standard of care,' researchers say
Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center clinicians were among those at leading institutions that have completed a three-year international study showing that docetaxel, a drug made from yew tree needles, decreases the chance of dying by 24 percent in advanced-stage prostate cancer patients resistant to hormone therapy. Scheduled for presentation at the 40th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in New Orleans on June 7, the results spur hopes that earlier use of the drug alone or together with other agents will provide longer improvements in survival.
"This is good news for our prostate cancer patients," says Mario Eisenberger, M.D., co-chair of the study and the R. Dale Hughes Professor of Oncology at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. "These data indicate that the current standard of care for these patients should be docetaxel therapy, and we should try adding new agents to build upon this success and test it in patients with aggressive disease before the cancer spreads."

[chubtoad]

http://www.eurekaler...ct/medicine.php

New non-aspirin pain drug proves effective against recurrent prostate cancer

CHAPEL HILL -- Early results from a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine study may determine if drugs called Cox-2 inhibitors, a newer type of non-aspirin pain medicine now widely prescribed for arthritis symptoms, may benefit men with recurrent prostate cancer.
The new findings demonstrate that Cox-2 inhibitors may have anti-tumor effects on prostate cancer and may slow disease progression in men whose PSA blood tests indicate the cancer's recurrence, the researchers said. Findings were presented June 6 at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting.

Currently, no effective treatment options exist for the estimated 50,000 men who annually develop the first signs of cancer recurrence - called biochemical relapse, a detectable and rising PSA level after surgery or radiation therapy for prostate cancer. For these otherwise healthy individuals, the first clinical signs of cancer relapse may be years ahead.

"If the PSA test points to a recurrence, the good news is it gives us a lead time of up to seven years. The bad news is we don't have anything appropriate and effective to offer at this early stage of recurrence," said Dr. Raj S. Pruthi, the study's principal investigator. "The use of chemotherapy in prostate cancer has been typically disappointing in these patients when viewed in terms of efficacy and toxicity."

[chubtoad]

http://www.eurekaler...ct/medicine.php

Early hormone therapy best for men with aggressive prostate cancer

Men with aggressive, metastatic prostate cancer who receive immediate early hormone therapy live on average three to four years longer than others who delay similar treatment, according to researchers at the University of Rochester.
Hormone therapy, designed to reduce the production of testosterone known to cause prostate cancer progression, is effective immediately following surgery or radiation therapy, according to Edward M. Messing, M.D., of the University of Rochester Medical Center. He led a randomized, prospective study that focused on the effectiveness of immediate or delayed hormone therapy, and results were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

"Evidence shows that if you have very aggressive prostate cancer that could kill you, early hormone therapy is your best bet," says Messing, urology department chair and deputy director of the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center.

[chubtoad]

http://www.scienceda...40629020214.htm

Alternative Hormone-blocker Reduces Side Effects In Prostate Cancer Patients

An alternative way of blocking androgen activity in prostate cancer patients produces fewer side effects and may be a better choice than standard hormone therapy for some patients. In the July issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) describe how patients taking bicalutamide, which inhibits androgen activity by binding to the hormones' receptors, had improved bone density and reported fewer unpleasant side effects than did those taking leuprolide, a traditional form of hormone therapy that markedly lowers androgen levels.

"The differences between the two groups were dramatic; bone mineral density increased among men taking bicalutamide while men in the leuprolide group lost bone," says Matthew Smith, MD, PhD, of the MGH Cancer Center, who led the study.

Since the male hormones called androgens can accelerate the development of prostate cancer, reducing their activity is a standard part of treating the disease. Most commonly this is done with drugs like leuprolide, called gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists, that stop the body's production of all sex hormones. However, totally blocking hormone activity can lead to potentially serious side effects such as loss of bone density, which increases the risk of fractures. Earlier studies by this MGH research team also showed that GnRH-agonist treatment often leads to unwanted weight gain and increased body fat.

Because bicalutamide blocks androgen activity in a way that does not reduce hormone levels in the blood, the research team wanted to see if using a single-drug treatment plan might avoid or reduce side effects. Earlier research had shown that bicalutamide alone is as effective as GnRH agonists for men with locally advanced prostate cancer.

[chubtoad]

http://www.scienceda...40715075408.htm

Gene Expression Patterns May Help Predict Risk And Progression Of Prostate Cancer

PITTSBURGH, July 15 – According to a study published in the July 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, genes expressed in benign tissue adjacent to prostate cancer tissue are much more similar to those expressed in prostate cancer tissue than previously thought. This finding, the first of its kind, may help predict populations both at risk for prostate cancer and for disease progression based on gene expression patterns, say researchers at the University of Pittsburgh.

"It is not clear what molecular events are responsible for the progression of prostate cancer to a lethal form of the disease," said Jian-Hua Luo, M.D., Ph.D., senior author of the study and assistant professor, department of pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "But by exploring the biology of prostate cancer through the identification of genes and patterns of gene expression, we can more precisely understand what genetic changes cause the disease to progress and develop therapeutic targets to prevent its progression at an earlier stage."

[chubtoad]

http://www.mountsina...erapy_2004.html

Combining Radiation Modalities Increases Prostate Cancer Cure Rates

A new study by Mount Sinai researcher, Richard G. Stock, MD, found that combining three therapeutic modalities significantly increased the percentage of high risk patients who are free from recurrence after five years.

High-risk prostate cancer patients who undergo a combination of hormonal therapy, radioactive seed implant (also called brachytherapy) and external beam radiation therapy are shown to have an increased chance of cancer cure, according to a new study by researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine published in the August 1, 2004, issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics.

Historically, high-risk prostate cancer has been a therapeutic challenge for physicians, despite their efforts to cure patients by aggressively treating them with either surgery, brachytherapy or external beam radiation. Previous studies have shown the 5-year freedom from recurrence rates for high-risk patients treated with just one of these treatments to be between 0 and 50 percent, with up to half of these failures occurring where the original tumor was found.

To see if combining therapies would decrease recurrence rates for men with high-risk prostate cancer, 132 patients with high Gleason scores, high prostate-specific antigen (PSA) scores or who were at an advanced clinical stage of prostate cancer were studied. A three-pronged approach that included brachytherapy, external beam radiation therapy and hormonal therapy produced an 86 percent rate of freedom from recurrence after five years. In addition, 47 of the original 132 patients in the study had a prostate biopsy performed two years after the end of treatment and 100 percent of them showed no evidence of the cancer recurring.

[maestro949]

Finding biomarkers for the early detection of all major pathologies will have more impact on average lifespan than all other approaches combined! OK, except perhaps lifestyle and nutrition but I'm assuming that if you're reading this then you've already got that base covered.

The article below is a good example of the progress we're making in regards to finding biomarkers for cancer. The American Association for Cancer Research just held it's first meeting on Moloecular Diagnostics in Cancer Therapeutic Development. The fact that cancer research is making a more significant investment in early detection is welcome news.

Sensitive And Specific Biomarker For Early Detection Of Prostate Cancer Identified

[Mind]

PSA test barely helps survival rates from prostate cancer

The news was unsettling and confusing to many middle-age men, particularly those who already have diagnoses of prostate cancer as a result of P.S.A. testing. Doctors say some men are reconsidering surgery or radiation treatment they have planned. Others, convinced that their lives were saved by P.S.A. screening, wonder how anyone could question the value of early detection of prostate cancer.

In the face of all this confusion, what’s a man to think? Here are answers to some frequently asked questions.

WHAT DID THE STUDIES REALLY SHOW?

The bottom line of both studies is that P.S.A. screening does find more prostate cancers — but finding those cancers early doesn’t do much to reduce the risk of dying from the disease.

The American study showed no statistical difference in prostate cancer death rates between a group of men who had the screening and a control group who did not. The European researchers found that P.S.A. screening does reduce the risk of dying from prostate cancer by about 20 percent.

But in terms of individual risk, even that is not a huge benefit. It means that a man who isn’t screened has about a 3 percent average risk of dying from prostate cancer. If that man undergoes annual P.S.A. screenings, his risk drops to about 2.4 percent.

And there is an important tradeoff. P.S.A. testing increases a man’s risk of being treated for a cancer that would never have harmed him in the first place. The European study found that for every man who was helped by P.S.A. screening, at least 48 received unnecessary treatment that increased risk for impotency and incontinence. Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, summed up the European data this way: “The test is about 50 times more likely to ruin your life than it is to save your life.”