by David Gutierrez
March 4 2008
(NaturalNews) Androgen deprivation therapy, commonly used in the treatment of
prostate cancer, may actually make cancer more likely to spread to other parts
of the body, according to a study conducted at Johns Hopkins University School
of Medicine and published in the journal Cancer Research.
Because prostate tumor growth is generally stimulated by male sex hormones,
androgen deprivation therapy, in which those hormones are suppressed, is often
given to patients in order to slow tumor growth.
Prior research has demonstrated that a protein called nestin tends to be
produced by prostate
cancer cells that have metastasized to other parts of the body. Nestin does
not appear to be produced by
cancer cells,
however, in cases where the
cancer has not spread.
Researchers experimented on androgen-dependent prostate cancer cells in the
laboratory. When they cut off the cells' access to androgens, the cells
increased their production of nestin.
The researchers then use the technique known as
RNA interference to make the
cancer cells less able to produce nestin. When the cells were transplanted into
the bodies of mice, they were found to be less likely to spread to other
locations than unmodified cells were. The nestin-production-hampered cells were
also found to have a decreased ability to move through or around other cells
when compared with unmodified prostate cancer cells.
The researchers did not find any evidence that levels of nestin had any impact
on tumor growth.
"What all this suggests is that nestin levels increased when prostate cancer
cells are deprived of androgens and may encourage the cells to metastasize,"
said researcher David Berman.
But the researchers warned that there is not yet enough evidence to advise the
abandonment of androgen deprivation therapy as a treatment.
The study was funded by the Evensen Family Foundation, the German Cancer
Foundation, the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health.
http://www.naturalnews.com/z022772.html