In the November 1, 2008 issue of The Prostate, researchers at the University of Wisconsin report their finding that a combination of vitamin C and E administered to human prostate cancer cell cultures results in apoptosis (programmed cellular self-destruction). The finding adds support to the hypothesis that vitamin E and selenium are of value in prostate cancer prevention, which is being investigated by the twelve-year Selenium and Vitamin E Chemoprevention Trial (SELECT) of over 32,000 healthy men.
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Histological slide (H & E stain at x300) showing prostate cancer. On the right is a somewhat normal Gleason Value of 3 (out of 5) with moderately differentiated cancer. On the left is less normal tissue with a Gleason Value of 4 (out of 5) that is highly undifferentiated. The Gleason score is the sum of the two worst areas of the histological slide. (Slide by Otis Brawley)

Compound Can Distinguish Between Benign, Localized and Metastatic Prostate Cancer

Researchers have determined that a molecule produced by the body’s metabolism could be used to differentiate between benign prostate tissue vs. localized and metastatic prostate cancer. They also found that this molecule, known as sarcosine, may be associated with prostate cancer invasiveness and aggressiveness. The findings were reported by researchers at the Michigan Center for Translational Pathology, Ann Arbor, and were supported by the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Early Detection Research Network (EDRN). The research appears in the Feb. 12, 2009 issue of Nature. NCI is part of the National Institutes of Health.
“Current biomarkers for detection or progression of prostate cancer are not as precise as we would like. Therefore, a more accurate indicator of cancer is of great interest,” said Sudhir Srivastava, Ph.D., chief of NCI’s Cancer Biomarkers Research Group. “Sarcosine and some other select metabolites may be excellent indicators of cancer progression.”

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The study behind controversial research findings from the US that found a common blood test for prostate cancer has no benefit in reducing deaths has been challenged by Australias and New Zealands peak body for urological surgeons.

AUCKLAND, Mar. 24 /Medianet International-AsiaNet/ — Having carefully reviewed the study into Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) blood tests undertaken in the United States, the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand believes that there were design flaws in the US study which invalidate the results.
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NEW YORK, Apr 08, 2009 (ASCRIBE NEWS via COMTEX) — A new multi-center study shows that an experimental drug lowers prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels – a marker for tumor growth – in men with advanced prostate cancer for whom traditional treatment options have failed. The study, led by researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), is published today in Science Express, the online version of the journal Science.

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April 15, 2009

By ANDREW POLLACK <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/andrew_pollack/index.html?inline=nyt-per>
A prostate cancer <http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/prostate-cancer/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier>  drug developed by the Seattle biotechnology company Dendreon <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/dendreon-corporation/index.html?inline=nyt-org>  prolonged the lives of men in a decisive clinical trial, the company announced Tuesday morning.

The widely anticipated results could pave the way for the drug, called Provenge, to become the first so-called therapeutic cancer   “vaccine” to win approval in the United States after numerous failures of such drugs.
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