Prostate Cancer
Pepper Component Hot Enough to Trigger Suicide in Prostate Cancer Cells
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Capsaicin, the stuff that turns up the heat in jalapen~os, not only causes the tongue to burn, it also drives prostate cancer cells to kill themselves, according to studies published in the March 15 issue of Cancer Research.
According to a team of researchers from the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, in collaboration with colleagues from UCLA, the pepper component caused human prostate cancer cells to undergo programmed cell death or apoptosis.
Understanding prostate cancer hormone therapy “syndrome”
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Men with prostate cancer may be put on hormone therapy, to block testosterone production in an effort to halt or slow tumor growth. While some health effects of so-called “androgen deprivation therapy” (ADT) for prostate cancer are clearcut—for example sexual dysfunction—there is this whole set of less specific, more vague symptoms, like changes in mood, memory, feeling unwell, being tired. A new study suggests that these symptoms are likely due to the fact that the patients are older, sicker and have more advanced disease.
“Androgen deprivation is probably not playing a big role in causing these symptoms,” said Dr. Vahakn B. Shahinian of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.
Poverty, not race, lowers prostate cancer survival
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The racial gap seen in the outcome of prostate cancer among older men is primarily due to differences in socioeconomic status, according to the results of a large community-based study.
The exception is Hispanic men, who have the highest rates of survival, but a socioeconomic status on par with African American men.
“Lower socioeconomic status appeared to be one of the major barriers to achieving comparable outcomes for men with prostate carcinoma,” Dr. Xianglin L.
Treatment of early prostate cancer can wait
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Surgical treatment of early prostate cancers can be delayed for more than 2 years without reducing the chances of curing the disease, new research shows.
The study, which appears in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, compared curability rates for 38 men who had delayed surgery and 150 who were treated with immediate surgery. Men in the former group underwent surgery around 26 months after diagnosis, while those in the latter group waited only about 3 months.
Oral agent alendronate may help men with prostate cancer suffering from bone loss
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Men with prostate cancer who experience bone loss from cancer treatment could benefit from a weekly oral therapy commonly given to women with osteoporosis, according to a study presented by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Prostate Cancer Symposium, Feb. 24 to 26 at the San Francisco Marriott.
“In previous studies, we have determined that men who receive androgen deprivation therapy, a frequently used treatment for prostate cancer, suffer from severe drops in bone mass and are at an increased risk for fracture,” said study principal investigator Susan Greenspan, M.D., professor of medicine, University of Pittsburgh and director, Osteoporosis Prevention and Treatment Center, UPMC. “In an attempt to mitigate these effects, we gave men using this therapy a once-weekly oral agent called alendronate that is commonly used to treat osteoporosis. We found that men who received it had significantly increased bone mass compared to those who did not receive the therapy.”
The study included 112 men with prostate cancer with an average age of 71. After an average of two years androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer, only 9 percent of the men had normal bone mass, while 52 percent had low bone mass and 39 percent developed osteoporosis. To study the effect of alendronate on these men, they were randomized into two groups to receive either alendronate once a week through an orally administered pill or a placebo. At one year follow-up, bone mass in the spine and hip increased significantly in the men treated with alendronate, 4.9 percent and 2.1 percent respectively. By comparison, men in the placebo group had significant losses of bone mass in the spine and hip, 1.3 percent and .7 percent respectively. In addition, the therapy was well-tolerated and easily administered.
Virus may cause prostate cancer, study hints
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A newly identified virus, tentatively called XMRV, seems to be associated with the development of prostate cancer in genetically susceptible men, researchers report.
XMRV is closely related to a virus that causes leukemia in mice and is a “newly identified infectious agent in humans,” Dr. Eric Klein of the Cleveland Clinic said in a statement.
Prostate cancer harder to spot in obese men
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Technical factors unrelated to underlying biology may make prostate cancer more difficult to detect in obese men in their early sixties or younger, researchers report in the Journal of Urology.
“We may be missing some cancers in younger obese men,” lead investigator Dr. Stephen J. Freedland told Reuters Health. “If we are missing some cancers, that means that by the time they are detected, there has been a delay leading to potentially a later-stage cancer. This could contribute to the worse outcomes we have observed among obese men.”
Obesity may be associated with decreased production of the tumor marker prostate specific antigen (PSA) and enlargement of the prostate make detection challenging.
Delayed prostate cancer surgery probably okay
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The time elapsed between a diagnosis of localized prostate cancer and surgery does not appear to have a large effect on the risk of cancer recurrence, according to a study. However, doctors say it’s best to avoid undue delays.
Men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer must educate themselves about the disease and the available treatment options. This can take time, often leading to delays in treatment. Waiting lists for surgery may also delay treatment.
Macrophage Signaling Affects Hormone Resistance in Prostate Tumors
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Interaction between prostate cancer cells and immune cells called macrophages may be a source of inflammatory signals capable of impacting the effectiveness of androgen antagonists, the most common and effective treatment for prostate cancer, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine.
Male hormones called androgens are essential for the physiological function and growth of the prostate gland, and anti-androgen treatment, which blocks the expression of androgen target genes, is widely used for the treatment of prostate cancer. Unfortunately, most patients eventually progress to an antagonist-resistant or hormone independent form of cancer, according to David W. Rose, Ph.D., associate professor in UCSD’s Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, and Moores Cancer Center. Rose is principle investigator of the study, to be published in the Feb. 10 issue of the journal Cell.
High-Risk Black Men Are Screened Less for Prostate Cancer
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The men most at risk for aggressive prostate cancer - black men with a family history - are the least likely to get screening even during peak ages of risk, researchers say.
Only 25 percent of black men during peak ages of 60-69 are screened using the common blood test that measures prostate specific antigen levels and 36 percent get annual digital rectal exams, according to a study published in the Feb. 15 issue of Cancer.
Black males are diagnosed with prostate cancer at an average age of 65.
New Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer Has Fewer Side Effects
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A new radiation therapy for prostate cancer—Cesium-131 brachytherapy—has fewer side effects than other treatments. NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center is the only hospital in the Northeast to offer the new therapy.
Brachytherapy involves the implantation of radioactive seeds into the tumor site. Radiation kills or arrests the growth of the cancer with minimal damage to healthy tissue. This helps prevent incontinence and preserve the nerves that allow for erection.
Prostate cancer hormone therapy triggers bone loss
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Men with advanced prostate cancer may be given therapy to stop their production of testosterone, which may drive tumor growth. However, androgen deprivation therapy, or ADT, appears to trigger a rapid loss of bone mineral density (BMD), researchers report.
Dr. Susan L. Greenspan of the University of Pittsburgh and colleagues note in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism that although bone loss is associated with ADT, little is known about when this may occur.
Phenoxodiol Delays Tumor Progression in Hormone Refractory Prostate Cancer
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A new study presented today at the International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Philadelphia shows that phenoxodiol significantly delays tumor progression in men suffering from late-stage hormone refractory prostate cancer. The meeting is sponsored by the American Association of Cancer Researchers (AACR), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC).
The anti-tumor effect in this Phase Ib/IIa trial was dose-dependent. The trial was designed to end after 24 weeks of treatment, but had to be extended to the current 90 weeks because of the unexpected extended survival in some patients. Patients have been able to remain on phenoxodiol for this extended time without any evidence of toxicity.
Yearly PSA Screening Found to Cut Prostate Cancer Mortality
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Annual screening for prostate specific antigen (PSA) reduced the risk of dying from prostate cancer, researchers reported.
In a retrospective study of 1,492 prostate cancer patients, those who had not had yearly screens were three times more likely to die of prostate cancer over the next 10 years than men who got an annual PSA test, Boston researchers reported at a meeting here of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology.
Rapid surgery not needed for prostate cancer
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After a positive biopsy result for prostate cancer, surgical removal of the prostate (radical prostatectomy) does not need to be performed immediately, at least as far as the risk of recurrence is concerned, according to a report in the urology journal BJU International.
“Most surgeons prefer to wait a minimum of 2 months after the biopsy before surgery to allow the post-biopsy inflammation to resolve,” Dr. James A. Eastham from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York told Reuters Health. “Such a wait does not influence outcomes and is not concerning.”
