Risk associated with hormone therapy for adenocarcinoma of prostate and newer approaches of treatment

Hormone therapy for prostate cancer causes kidney failure
Friday, July 26, 2013
(NaturalNews)
(http://www.naturalnews.com/041363_androgen_deprivation_therapy_prostate_cancer_kidney_failure.html)

Men who undergo conventional hormone therapy treatments for prostate cancer could be setting themselves up for another potential health problem later on in life: renal failure. This was the shocking finding of a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), which found that androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), which suppresses testosterone, may lead to a rapid reduction in kidney function, and thus induce kidney failure.

Researchers from McGill University in Canada came to this conclusion after studying the effects of ADT in more than 10,000 men diagnosed with non-metastatic prostate cancer. Though the treatment can sometimes help induce prostate cancer regression in some men, it may also cause a hypogonadal condition that can eventually develop into acute kidney injury (AKI). In a worst-case scenario, ADT can lead to full renal failure, which can ultimately lead to death.

Novel class of drugs for prostate cancer

May 28, 2013

(http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130528122514.htm)

In men with advanced prostate cancer, growth of cancer cells depends on androgen receptor signaling, which is driven by androgens, such as testosterone. To thwart tumor growth, most patients with advanced prostate cancer receive drugs that block the production of androgen or block the receptor where the androgen binds. Unfortunately, such treatments invariably fail and patients die of prostate cancer with their androgen receptor signaling still active and still promoting tumor growth.

In the new study, available online at Nature Communications, a team of researchers led by Dr. Ganesh Raj, associate professor of urology at UT Southwestern, found that they could disrupt androgen receptor signaling using a novel class of drugs called peptidomimetics. This therapeutic agent consists of an engineered small protein-like chain designed to mimic peptides that are critical for androgen receptor function. The peptidomimetic agents block the activity of the androgen receptor even in the presence of androgen by attacking the protein in a different spot from where the androgen binds.

Further testing is needed before a drug could move to Phase 1 clinical trials that involve human participants.

"Most drugs now available to treat advanced prostate cancer improve survival rates by three or four months," Dr. Raj said. "Our new agents may offer hope for men who fail with the current drugs."

New class of cancer treatment: Cell therapy

Lifespan boosting cancer vaccine developed in Russia

(http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c32/933583.html)

NOVOSIBIRSK, October 30 (Itar-Tass) - Scientists of the Institute of Clinical Immunology in the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences in Novosibirsk have developed a vaccine for the treatment of cancer, the institute's director, Professor Vladimir Kozlov, told Itar-Tass on Wednesday.

“We are deriving dendritic cells from the human body and loading them with tumor antigens," the scientist said. "Dendritic cells process them, then we inject the cells into the patient and they start working in the body evoking a strong immune response. That is, they are actively fighting the tumor."
The institute's creation "is not a classical vaccine, which is the means to prevent the illness", Professor Kozlov said. "In fact, it is cell therapy.”
The vaccine is counteracting several types of cancer - colorectal (bowel) cancer, breast cancer and prostate cancer - and the institute is ready to start its industrial production, Kozlov added.
He warned, however, that “one should not seek a panacea for malign tumors as they cannot be overcome with only one tool. Along with dendritic cells, there are other cells that fight cancer so all means are to be applied in complex. An immunomodulating cocktail is needed for a far-reaching effect,” Kozlov said.
Other types of therapy were to be used as well, such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy, the professor said. Treatment should vary case by case, he said, adding that the institute was already developing preventive vaccines against other illnesses, atherosclerosis among them, and that they would be presented soon.

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