NanomedicineCenter.com

New threatment method for prostate cancer

Scientists from the Umeå University in Sweden have performed a thorough research, where they tested two groups of 500 hundred men and their reaction to two types of treatment. The first group was treated with hormone therapy only (flutamide), while the second group was treated with hormone therapy and radiation. The latter method was way more successful.

“The study will change practice in the treatment of locally advanced or local aggressive prostate cancer,” said Professor Anders Widmark, MD, scientist who led the research. “These patients should be offered the addition of local radiation treatment.”

However, although the second method (hormone therapy + radiation) offered better results, men who were treated reported mostly urinary and sexual problems after 5 years.

The details were published in The Lancet.

Source: cancer.gov

New drugs stop cancer growth

Researchers from the University of California in San Francisco have announced that they have discovered a new drug that successfully blocks the main source of cancer growth. It has been proven as effective on mice, and now final tests are being done to start clinical trials on human patients.

The new drug is unlike any other drug that’s currently in clinical trials — it short-circuits the normal ability of cells to sense the need to grow and divide. Normally, in response to growth signals, a multi-protein unit in cells called mTOR integrates information about the cell’s nutritional and energy needs, and prompts the cell to manufacture key proteins for cell growth. But cancer exploits this signal for its own growth.

“We were trying to synthesize compounds that could help us learn more about how cancer exploits normal growth controls,” said Kevan Shokat, one of the researchers. “Once we made it, though, we found it was even better than we thought it would be at blocking mTor signaling. It does everything that rapamycin does and more.”

The new drug is successful because there are two mTOR signal pathways, and it blocks both. On the other hand, a drug that’s currently being used is Rapamycin, which only blocks one, and so allows the growth-signaling system to still function.
“I hope the new drug can be used to treat a range of cancers,” said Shokat. “We will work with clinicians to test it against a number of types of cancer – breast, lung and others. We want to first find the cancer that is most sensitive to it.”

The details are published in PLoS Biology.

Source: ucsf.edu

New treatment method for prostate cancer patients

Researchers at the Burnet Institute in Melbourne have created a new treatment method for prostate cancer patients. The research crew, led by Pei Xiang Xing, have created a monoclonal antibody to a unique tumor marker for the treatment of prostate cancer. The monoclonal antibody is directed at cancer-producing cells carrying the specific molecule known as PIM-1, which is responsible for cell survival, proliferation and differentiation.

Prostate cancer is the third leading cause of death in men all over the world. Over 2,000 men die every year from this deadly disease, so that’s why this research is of huge importance. Prostate cancer can be compared to breast cancer in women.
“This is an exciting step in the development of new treatments for patients with prostate cancer with very promising laboratory-test results,” said Brendan Crabb, director of the Burner Institute.

Clinical trials are expected to take place in the near future.

The details are published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Source: burnet.edu.au