Washington: Prostate cancer is treated by
withdrawing male hormone testosterone from the patient -- but
while this kills most of the cells, the few that remain lead
to recurrent, incurable disease.
Now, scientists have come up with an unexpected way
to treat the disease, by using estrogen, a hormone normally
associated with women -- a key breakthrough which they claim
could pave the way for new treatments.
According to them, the research provides proof of the
controversial concept that estrogens could be good for men and
can be used therapeutically to treat prostate cancer.
"The research showed that drugs that activate one of
the two estrogen receptors, causes cell death. Most commonly
cell death in patients with prostate cancer is achieved by
withdrawing androgens (male hormones) resulting in castration.
"Although the bulk of the tumour is removed by
castration, some cells remain and these castrate-resistant
cells are the ones that give rise to recurrent incurable
disease," lead scientist Prof Gail Risbridger said.
For their research, the scientists, led by Monash
University in Australia, used a drug developed to selectively
and specifically activate the beta estrogen receptor in the
prostate.
"It not only inhibits growth of prostate cancer but
also kills off cancer cells that are resistant to conventional
treatment such as androgen deprivation therapy, more commonly
known as castration therapy and does so using a mechanism that
is different to castration," Prof Risbridger said.
The scientists made the discovery in animal models,
and then successfully replicated laboratory results using
human cells and tissues from patients with prostate cancer.
"It is a significant piece of the puzzle that
will help medical research in this field - an achievement that
could eventually enhance treatment options for patients around
the world with advanced prostate cancer," Prof Risbridger said.
The findings have been published in the `PNAS`
journal.
PTI