“Whether this discrepancy was simply a results of different populations of men in these studies or, more likely, the absence of a consistent biologic relationship, our results suggest that steroid hormones are not a powerful driver of higher grade disease.”
MedWire News: Among patients with newly diagnosed prostate cancer, there is no link between circulating steroid hormone levels and Gleason score, conclude US investigators.
Vitamin D from dietary intake and sunlight exposure and the risk of hormone-receptor-defined breast cancer.
Blackmore KM, Lesosky M, Barnett H, Raboud JM, Vieth R, Knight JA.
Am J Epidemiol. 2008 Oct 15;168(8):915-24. Epub 2008 Aug 27.
PMID: 18756015
doi:10.1093/aje/kwn198
This study suggests that vitamin D is associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer regardless of ER/PR status of the tumor. Future studies with a larger number of receptor-negative and mixed tumors are required.
Elevated levels of hormones increase breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women, and as the number of different elevated hormones rises, so does the risk, a new study has found.
Support ellagic acid therapy in patients with hormone refractory prostate cancer (HRPC) on standard chemotherapy using vinorelbine and estramustine phosphate.
Falsaperla M, Morgia G, Tartarone A, Ardito R, Romano G.
Eur Urol. 2005 Apr;47(4):449-54; discussion 454-5. Epub 2005 Jan 19.
PMID: 15774240
doi:10.1016/j.eururo.2004.12.001
CYP17 blockade by abiraterone: further evidence for frequent continued hormone-dependence in castration-resistant prostate cancer.
Ang JE, Olmos D, de Bono JS.
Br J Cancer. 2009 Mar 10;100(5):671-5. Epub 2009 Feb 17.
PMID: 19223900
doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6604904
Phase I clinical trial of a selective inhibitor of CYP17, abiraterone acetate, confirms that castration-resistant prostate cancer commonly remains hormone driven.
Attard G, Reid AH, Yap TA, Raynaud F, Dowsett M, Settatree S, Barrett M, Parker C, Martins V, Folkerd E, Clark J, Cooper CS, Kaye SB, Dearnaley D, Lee G, de Bono JS.
J Clin Oncol. 2008 Oct 1;26(28):4563-71. Epub 2008 Jul 21.
PMID: 18645193
DOI: 10.1200/JCO.2007.15.9749
The prostate is the gland below a man's bladder that produces fluid for semen. Prostate cancer is the third most common cause of death from cancer in men of all ages. It is rare in men younger than 40.
Levels of a substance called prostate specific antigen (PSA) is often high in men with prostate cancer. However, PSA can also be high with other prostate conditions. Since the PSA test became common, most prostate cancers are found before they cause symptoms. Symptoms of prostate cancer may include
Problems passing urine, such as pain, difficulty starting or stopping the stream, or dribbling
Low back pain
Pain with ejaculation
Prostate cancer treatment often depends on the stage of the cancer. How fast the cancer grows and how different it is from surrounding tissue helps determine the stage. Treatment may include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy or control of hormones that affect the cancer.
"Compounds similar to those found in cannabis have been shown to stop prostate cancer cells from multiplying. Two cannabinoid compounds, JWH-015 and MET, stopped prostate tumour growth in human prostate cells in Petri dishes and also in mice with the disease. They halted the cell-division cycle and killed the cancer cells, and had the greatest effect on aggressive prostate cancer cell types, which do not respond to hormone treatments.
Some 192,000 men in the US alone are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year, and researchers Inés Díaz-Laviada Marturet at the University of Alcalá, Spain, and her colleagues say the results could offer hope to those affected. But before you go looking for a dealer, New Scientist answers a few questions"
Not enough vitamin D: health consequences for Canadians.
Schwalfenberg G.
Can Fam Physician. 2007 May;53(5):841-54. Review
PMID: 17872747
Conclusion
Low levels of VTD are considered a major public health problem in Canada, especially during the winter. Those with risk factors should be screened for low 25(OH)D levels and repletion therapy instituted if needed. Researchers have estimated that the oral dose of vitamin D3 to attain and maintain 25(OH)D levels >80 nmol/L is 2200 IU/d if baseline levels are 20 to 40 nmol/L, 1800 IU/d if levels are 40 to 60 nmol/L, and 1160 IU/d if levels are between 60 and 80 nmol/L.64
We need to ensure that patients have healthy blood levels of 25(OH)D to prevent levels of parathyroid hormone from rising and to maximize absorption of calcium, magnesium, and phosphate. Positive effects on bone are marginal at best unless patients consume at least 800 IU/d of VTD. The emerging and exciting role of the VTD receptor and the actions of VTD in maintaining health in other cell types have become more apparent during the last decade.
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Two Mayo Clinic patients whose prostate cancer had been considered inoperable are now cancer free thanks in part to an experimental drug therapy that was used in combination with standardized hormone treatment and radiation therapy. The men were participating in a clinical trial of an immunotherapeutic agent called MDX-010 or ipilimumab. In these two cases, physicians say the approach initiated the death of a majority of cancer cells and caused the tumors to shrink dramatically, allowing surgery. In both cases, the aggressive tumors had grown well beyond the prostate into the
Israeli 'cancer shift' over heart disease mortality may be led by greater risk in women with high intake of n-6 fatty acids.
Shapira N.
Eur J Cancer Prev. 2007 Oct;16(5):486-94.
PMID: 17923822
doi: 10.1097/CEJ.0b013e3280145b6d
Population studies of Israeli Jews, Arabs, and women support the association of high n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid intake with increased cancer risk and higher female sensitivity. Research findings suggest that gender and sex hormones may influence n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid metabolism and carcinogenesis. This appears to be the first time gender has been proposed to modulate national cancer epidemiology, suggesting implications for differential nutritional prevention, warranting further research.
Berberine, a natural product, induces G1-phase cell cycle arrest and caspase-3-dependent apoptosis in human prostate carcinoma cells.
Mantena SK, Sharma SD, Katiyar SK.
Mol Cancer Ther. 2006 Feb;5(2):296-308.
PMID: 16505103
doi: 10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-05-0448
The effectiveness of berberine in checking the growth of androgen-insensitive, as well as androgen-sensitive, prostate cancer cells without affecting the growth of normal prostate epithelial cells indicates that it may be a promising candidate for prostate cancer therapy.
The evaluation of ancient herbal medicines may indicate novel strategies for the treatment of prostate cancer, which remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in American men (1). In our present investigation, we show that a naturally occurring isoquinoline alkaloid, berberine, significantly inhibits the proliferation and reduces the viability of DU145 and PC-3 as well as LNCaP cells (Fig. 1), which suggests that berberine may be an effective chemotherapeutic agent against both androgen-sensitive and androgen-insensitive prostate cancer cells. Importantly, we found that berberine did not exhibit toxicity to nonneoplastic human prostate epithelial cells under the conditions used, except for a moderate reduction in cell viability at higher concentrations when cells were treated in vitro for an extended period of time.
In conclusion, the results of the present study indicate that berberine inhibits proliferation and induces G1-phase arrest and apoptosis in human prostate cancer cells but not in normal human prostate epithelial cells. In addition, we provide mechanistic evidence that berberine-induced apoptosis in prostate carcinoma cells, particularly hormone-refractory prostate carcinoma cells, is mediated through enhanced expression of Bax, disruption of the mitochondrial membrane potential, and activation of caspase-3.
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