Prostate cancer about

Trials of therapeutic vaccination against prostate cancer used OncoVax-P (Jenner Biotherapies, Inc, San Ramon, California). OncoVax-P consists of 200 pg monophosphoryl lipid A (similar to that used in Detox) added to 1 ml liposomes and 100 pg PSA (prostate-specific antigen). Patients received injections by different routes (intramuscular, intravenous or subcutaneous) according to the trial, with or without GM-CSF, IL-2 or BCG and cyclophosphamide pretreatment. No serious side effects were seen. DTH and antibody responses were achieved. Vaccination increased the PSA-reactive T cell frequency as determined by IFN-y secretion, but no toxicity against PSA-expressing target cells was detected. The most effective strategy could not be determined, and no conclusion about the clinical efficacy of the treatment was possible [214,215],... 

The association of kallikreins with cancer is well established. PSA (hK3) and, more recently, human glandular kallikrein (hK2) are useful biomarkers for prostate cancer. A more detailed discussion about hK2 and hK3 as cancer biomarkers can be found elsewhere [31]. In addition to its established role in prostate cancer diagnosis and monitoring, recent reports indicate that hK3 can be useful as a marker for breast cancer prognosis [215],... 

Isiah M. Warner, Louisiana State University As I was listening to you talk, I thought about a study that reported that aspirins are now a good antidote for prostate cancer. When asked, researchers said 100 percent of the patients involved in the study were white males. 

Q7 The total serum calcium concentration is normally about 9.5 mg dl 1. Approximately half of this is bound to plasma protein, mostly to albumin. Most of the remainder is unbound or ionized calcium, which is the physiologically and clinically important form. Hypercalcaemia, normally defined as a serum concentration of >12 mgdl-1, may sometimes be caused by excessive consumption of calcium in the diet. More important pathologically is malignant disease. Hypercalcaemia occurs when there are bone metastases associated with breast or prostate cancer. However, many tumours can produce a PTH-like protein causing elevated serum calcium levels. Furthermore, intoxication and immobilization of vitamin D or excess vitamin D may also cause hypercalcaemia. 

Steroid Receptors. Steroid receptors such as estrogen, progesterone, and androgen receptors are overexpressed in breast, ovarian, and prostate cancers. Estrogen and progesterone receptors are present in about 65% of human breast cancers. The presence or absence of these receptors in cases of breast carcinoma assists the determination of the therapeutic strategy (hormonal or chemical) that is likely to be effective. The successful Tc complex must cross the membrane lipid bilayer of the cell, and thus, the size and lipophilicity of the complex must be balanced with receptorbinding affinity. 

The polymer-paclitaxel formulation was also evaluated for treatment of orthotopic prostate cancer (28). Treatment with the polymer formulation of paclitaxel (single injection of 200 pi polymer formulation with 10% w/w load) increased the survival rate of the rats. Rats treated with parental formulation of paclitaxel died 25 days post tumor cells inoculation. Only one rat in the polymer-paclitaxel group died three weeks post tumor cell inoculation, while all the remaining rats survived until the end point of the experiment (35 days). The control animals also developed lymph node metastases. No metastases were found in polymer-paclitaxel treated rats. The treatment with polymer-paclitaxel formulation reduced the prostate volume of the rats from 14.8 cm (untreated animals) to 0.862 cm while the volume of healthy prostate gland injected with 200 pi of polymer is about 0.4 cm The polymeric formulation released paclitaxel into local tumor tissues and induced necrosis and reduction of the tumor mass, while prolonging lifespan in an orthotopic prostate cancer rat model. 

In a randomized study in 390 patients suramin has been given in a fixed low dose (3.192 g/m ), intermediate dose (5.320 g/m ), or high dose (7.661 g/m ) to determine whether its efficacy and toxicity in the treatment of patients with hormone-refractory prostate cancer is dose-dependent (8). There was no clear dose-response relation for survival or progression-free survival, but toxicity increased especially with the higher dose. There were neurological adverse effects in 40% of the patients and cardiac adverse effects in 15%. This raises questions about the usefulness of suramin, particularly in high doses, in advanced prostate cancer. However, in another... 

In 13 men with advanced hormone-refractory prostate cancer the interaction between suramin and warfarin was studied because of potential worries that suramin may affect blood coagulation (38). After initial stabilization to an International Normalized Ratio (INR) of about 2.0 suramin plus hydrocortisone was started, after which warfarin requirements fell by 0.50-0.78 mg/day. The difference did not reach statistical significance. There were no bleeding problems. These results suggest that suramin and warfarin can be safely co-administered, provided that coagulation status is monitored. 

Estrogenic agents (diethylstilbestrol [DES] and estramustine) can be effective in the treatment of metastatic prostate cancer however, concerns about potential thromboembolic events and other side effects (painful gynecomastia) have limited their use. 

Furthermore, a diet with low contents of FA may be involved in the development of insulin resistance, which suggests that an appropriate dietary intake of n-3 PUFA is considered protective against metabolic syndrome [183]. In addition, diverse psyquiatric impairs (depression, bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, autism) and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer disease have been associated to decreased blood levels of n-3 HUFA. Besides, there are many examples about the use of pol)nmsaturated FA as drugs. Thus, EPA has shown efficacy as adjunctive treatment, and in some cases as the only treatment in several psyquiatric disorders [184]. It is suggested that the potential of n-3 FA to prevent recurrence and metastasis of mammary cancer when used in adjuvant therapy is associated with a n-6 to n-3 ratio lower than 2 1 [185], On the other hand, fish intake is considered as a protective factor for preventing prostate cancer in addition, in humans low levels of ALA in mammary adipose tissue are associated with an increased risk of breast cancer in women [186]. 

---