Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer less likely to spread when treated with higher dose of radiation
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New research suggests that men with prostate cancer who choose radiation therapy should seek treatment centers that will offer high-dose radiation. A new study from Fox Chase Cancer Center finds that higher doses of 74 to 82 Gray (Gy) greatly reduce the risk that the cancer will spread later—even 8-10 years after treatment. The results of the study were presented today at the 48th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology in Philadelphia.
“There is a comprehensive body of evidence demonstrating that prostate cancer treated with higher doses of radiation is less likely to grow back in the prostate or cause a rising PSA, and now, we know it is also less likely to spread later to other parts of the body,” explained Peter Morgan, M.D., a resident in the Radiation Oncology Department at Fox Chase Cancer Center.
Additional hormone therapy use after radiation for some prostate cancers extends survival
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The largest study examining the benefits of long-term use of hormone therapy after radiation treatment for prostate cancer shows men with aggressive locally advanced disease live longer if hormones are used for an additional 24 months. Research also showed other significant benefits for those with less aggressive cancers who receive hormones. The study results were presented today at the 48th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology in Philadelphia.
The study, sponsored by the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG 92-02), reports more than 10 years of data involving the use of androgen deprivation after radiation therapy in a phase III, multi-center study led by Gerald E. Hanks, M.D., who served as chairman of radiation oncology at Fox Chase Cancer Center from 1985 to 2001. (Hanks is a 2006 ASTRO Fellow).
PSA changes predict prostate cancer outcome
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Watching changes in men’s PSA blood tests may be the best way of predicting which men have life-threatening prostate cancer, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.
The study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, strengthens the argument that men should have their prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels tested when they are young, so doctors have a point of reference, or “baseline,” for studying future changes.
“We have found that the rate at which a man’s PSA rises may be more important than any absolute level for identifying men who will develop life-threatening cancer while their disease is still curable,” said Dr. H. Ballentine Carter of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore.
UI Researchers Studying Novel Therapy For Prostate Cancer
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A team of University of Iowa Health Care researchers has launched an important clinical trial of a novel therapeutic that may eventually lead to new treatments for men diagnosed with prostate cancer.
The Ad5-TRAIL gene therapy for prostate cancer research trial is a Phase I study designed to test the optimal dosage at which the therapeutic agent can safely be given to patients.
The clinical study is being co-led by Thomas Griffith, Ph.D., (photo, left) an associate professor in the Department of Urology, and Richard Williams, M.D., the Rubin H. Flocks Chair in Urology and professor and head of the UI Department of Urology.
Prostate Cancer: Ethnic Differences, Screening, Treatment and Research
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National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month in September is a way to help focus attention on a cancer that takes the lives of an estimated 27,000 fathers, husbands, brothers and sons in the United States each year.
UC Davis Cancer Center experts are available to discuss the following topics related to prostate cancer:
Do You Know the Signs and Symptoms of Prostate Cancer?
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September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month and the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) is encouraging men to get educated when it comes to prostate cancer awareness, screening and their treatment options.
This year, an estimated 234,460 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society. Fortunately, screening for prostate cancer is relatively easy.
Screening for prostate cancer is done through a simple blood test called a PSA test. The PSA blood test will detect a specific hormone called the prostate specific antigen. Your doctor will also administer a painless rectal exam in conjunction with the PSA blood test. Unlike screening tests like a colonoscopy or a mammogram, both these tests can be done by your primary care doctor in his or her office. If either is abnormal, you will need to undergo a biopsy to see if you have cancer.
Diet changes may slow recurrent prostate cancer
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When prostate cancer recurs, eating a plant-based diet and reducing stress may help slow progression of the disease, a new study shows.
Writing in the journal Integrative Cancer Therapies, Dr. Gordon A. Saxe of the Moores UCSD Cancer Center in La Jolla, California and colleagues note that hormone treatment may be used to extend survival when prostate cancer returns. However, they add, the treatment reduces sex drive, causes hot flashes and weakens bones.
The researchers investigated whether a plant-based diet might be another way to slow the advance of recurrent prostate cancer, because the typical “Western” diet high in animal protein and low in plant foods has been seen to boost the progression of the disease.
Obese men fare well after prostate cancer surgery
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Although obese men tend to have more aggressive prostate cancer going into surgery, they do just as well as thinner men in the years afterward, a study suggests.
The findings, published in the journal Cancer, suggest that obese men need not fear that their weight will add to their risk of cancer recurrence or death.
“I think this is a reassuring study for obese men,” lead study author Dr. Sameer A. Siddiqui told Reuters Health. “Even with worse cancers, their outcomes were the same.”
Dietary changes may slow prostate cancer growth
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Increasing the ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids in the diet appears to slow the progression of prostate cancer, according to the results of an animal study.
The so-called Western diet commonly consumed in the US contains mostly omega-6 fatty acids, derived from corn oil and other sources. Omega-3 fatty acids, by contrast, are abundant in cold-water fish, a food source missing in the diets of many Americans.
“Our study showed that altering the fatty acid ratio found in the typical Western diet to include more omega-3 fatty acids and decreasing the amount of omega-6 fatty acids reduced prostate cancer tumor growth rates and PSA levels in mice,” senior author Dr. William J. Aronson, from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine, told Reuters Health.
A new diagnostic tool for prostate cancer
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According to the World Health Organization there are about 250,000 new cases of prostate cancer every year but, when caught in time, the disease has a cure rate of over 90%.
The problem is that the current methods of disease testing are still associated with too many misdiagnoses. Now however, research by Portuguese and Norwegian scientists, just published on the journal Clinical Cancer Research describes, not only how whole genome analysis can help to increase the accuracy of patient testing, but also identifies a new molecular marker that “tags” prostate cancers with worse prognoses These results have important implications for the clinical management of patients as they will allow, together with standard methods of cancer analysis, better informed therapeutic measures.
Prostate cancer results from abnormal uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, which is a doughnut-shaped gland in the male reproductive system responsible for the fluid that carries the sperm during ejaculation. The disease is strongly related to the Western lifestyle and affects mostly males over the age of 65, while rarely occurring before 40 years of age.
Pomegranate Juice Keeps PSA Levels Stable in Men with Prostate Cancer
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Drinking an eight ounce glass of pomegranate juice daily increased by nearly four times the period during which PSA levels in men treated for prostate cancer remained stable, a three-year UCLA study has found.
The study involved 50 men who had undergone surgery or radiation but quickly experienced increases in prostate-specific antigen or PSA, a biomarker that indicates the presence of cancer. UCLA researchers measured “doubling time,” how long it takes for PSA levels to double, a signal that the cancer is progressing, said Dr. Allan Pantuck, an associate professor of urology, a Jonsson Cancer Center researcher and lead author of the study.
Doubling time is crucial in prostate cancer, Pantuck said, because patients who have short doubling times are more likely to die from their cancer. The average doubling time is about 15 months. In the UCLA study, Pantuck and his team observed increases in doubling times from 15 months to 54 months, an almost four-fold increase.
Early Estrogen Exposure Leads to Later Prostate Cancer Risk
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A study in the June 1 issue of Cancer Research presents the first evidence that exposure to low doses of environmental estrogens during development of the prostate gland in the male fetus may result in a predisposition to prostate cancer later in life.
The study, done in an animal model, also demonstrates how the predisposition may arise, and a way to identify those at risk.
Man-made compounds that can mimic the hormone action of estrogens (xenoestrogens) are widespread in the environment. One of these agents is bisphenol A (BPA), used in the manufacture of plastics and epoxy resins. The United States alone produces over 1.6 million pounds of BPA annually. BPA, which can also leach from plastics when heated, turns up in human blood and in placental and fetal tissues in even higher concentrations.
Protein linked to cancer spread identified
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Scientists have identified and blocked the action of a protein linked to the spread of breast, prostate and skin cancer cells to the bones.
The molecule called RANKL is produced in bone marrow. In studies of mice, researchers from Austria and Canada showed that inhibiting the protein could stop the cancerous cells from migrating to the bones.
“RANKL is a protein which tells tumor cells to come to it,” said Professor Josef Penninger, of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna.
Men need more info on prostate cancer options
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When it comes to treating localized prostate cancer, treatment decisions frequently do not appear to reflect patient preferences, investigators report in an upcoming issue of Cancer.
“I think fear is a big factor, and I don’t think patients have the information to discriminate between what it means to have prostate cancer versus what it means to have other types of cancer that are more aggressive,” Dr. Steven B. Zeliadt told Reuters Health.
There is no “gold standard” for the best treatment of localized prostate cancer. The treatment choices include surgery (radical prostatectomy), X-ray therapy, implantation of radioactive pellets (brachytherapy) and “watchful waiting,” the authors of the study note. Despite a plethora of studies examining how men decide on a treatment plan when they are diagnosed with localized prostate cancer, there is no consensus on what issues actually guide their decisions.
Hot pepper kills prostate cancer cells in study
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Capsaicin, which makes peppers hot, can cause prostate cancer cells to kill themselves, U.S. and Japanese researchers said on Wednesday.
Capsaicin led 80 percent of human prostate cancer cells growing in mice to commit suicide in a process known as apoptosis, the researchers said.
Prostate cancer tumors in mice fed capsaicin were about one-fifth the size of tumors in untreated mice, they reported in the journal Cancer Research.
