Vitamine E en bloedverdunners bij prostaatkanker*
Uit twee studies blijkt het belang van vitamine E en mogelijk bloedverdunners in de strijd bij
prostaatkanker. Uit de Australische studie blijkt dat vitamine E in de vorm van
gamma-tocotrienol, althans bij muizen, waar prostaatkankercellen in waren geplaatst, de groei van prostaatkankercellen in 100% van de gevallen duidelijk doet afnemen. Bij 70% van die muizen groeide de tumor niet en bij de resterende muizen was een flink mindere groei. Volgens de onderzoekers is een chemokuur en hormoonbehandeling bij agressieve prostaatkanker niet in staat om de prostaatkankerstamcellen te doden. Deze stamcellen zorgen voor het opnieuw groeien van de tumor. Gamma-tocotrienol bleek nu succesvol deze stamcellen te kunnen doden. Uit eerder onderzoek blijkt dat deze vorm van vitamine E, die vooral gevonden wordt in
palmolie ook effectief is bij borst- darm-, lever- en maagkanker. Zo snel mogelijk zal nu onderzoek onder mannen plaats moeten vinden.
Uit de tweede studie onder ruim vijfduizend mannen met niet uitgezaaide prostaatkanker en die behandeld met een operatie of bestraling de kans op overlijden aan de ziekte duidelijk afnam bij het dagelijks gebruik van bloedverdunners zoals aspirine. Zij die bloedverdunners gebruikten hadden i.p.v. 10% slechts 4% kans op doodgaan aan de ziekte binnen 10 jaar.
Vitamin E In Front Line Of Prostate Cancer Fight
Survival rates of the world's most common cancer might soon be increased with a new vitamin E treatment which could significantly reduce tumour regrowth.
Queensland University of Technology (QUT) prostate cancer researchers are leading the fight against a disease which kills 3000 Australian men a year.
Dr Patrick Ling, whose research will be a centrepiece of the new $354 million Translational Research Institute (TRI) when it opens in Brisbane, is leading a team of researchers who have identified a particular constituent of vitamin E, known as tocotrienol (T3), which can inhibit the growth of prostate tumours.
Construction of TRI officially began at the Princess Alexandra Hospital. The world-class facility brings together some of Queensland's best medical researchers from four leading Australian research facilities to turn their work into accessible and potentially life-saving health treatments.
Dr Ling's research has been funded by Davos Life Science in Singapore, who recently awarded him a further $128,000 to undertake a one-year study of the long-term effectiveness of T3 to prevent the recurrence of treated prostate cancer tumours.
"Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer in developed countries," Dr Ling said.
"It is responsible for more male deaths than any other cancer, except lung cancer."
Dr Ling said existing chemotherapy and hormonal therapy treatment of prostate cancer was insufficient because it failed to kill off the prostate cancer stem cells (CSCs) which were believed to be responsible for the regrowth of tumours.
However, the research team have discovered a particular form of T3, called gamma-tocotrienol (?-T3), can successfully kill off the prostate cancer CSCs.
"Currently there is no effective treatment for metastatic prostate cancer, because it grows back after conventional therapies in more than 70 per cent of cases," he said.
"But with ?-T3, QUT researchers have found a better way to treat prostate cancer, which has the potential to inhibit recurrence of the disease."
Dr Ling said in animal trials, ?-T3 completely inhibited tumour formation in more than 70 per cent of the mice implanted with prostate cancer cells and fed the vitamin E constituent in water. In the remaining cases, tumour regrowth was considerably reduced, while tumours reformed in 100 per cent of the control
group.
The findings were published recently in the International Journal of Cancer.
The next stage of Dr Ling's study has begun and will determine the long-term effectiveness of the ?-T3 treatment, with plans to progress to clinical trials in the future.
"Previous clinical trials using another vitamin E constituent to inhibit prostate cancer development were unsuccessful, but these trials did not use the vitamin E constituent ?-T3," he said.
"Other research has found ?-T3 is also effective in suppressing other types of cancer, including breast, colon, liver and gastric."
Dr Ling said while not all vitamin E preparations had the active constituent, natural vitamin E obtained from palm oil was rich in ?-T3.
Professor Ross Young, from QUT's Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI), said one of TRI's greatest strengths was to bring together leading researchers.
"Collaboration, which combines the expertise of researchers from different disciplines and institutions to achieve common goals, will lead to better solutions," Professor Young said.
QUT Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake said TRI would greatly benefit Queensland's and Australia's economy and ability to attract the world's best researchers to our shores.
"By having this world-class facility producing research of the highest quality, we will be increasing Queensland's international competitiveness in research," Professor Coaldrake
said.
TRI is a collaboration of QUT, the University of Queensland, Princess Alexandra Hospital and the Mater Medical Research Institute, with funding from the Australian Government, Queensland Government, The Atlantic Philanthropies, QUT and UQ.
Dr Ling is based at IHBI and the Australian Prostate Cancer Research Centre - Queensland, a comprehensive research centre to investigate new ways to treat prostate cancer established by QUT and the Princess Alexandra Hospital with funding from the federal government.
His research is funded by world-leading tocotrienol manufacturer Davos Life Science. The Singapore-based company produces ?-T3 from sustainable palm plantations.
Source:
Rachael Wilson
Queensland University of Technology
Aspirin Use Associated With Lower Risk Of Cancer Death For Men With Prostate Cancer
Men with prostate cancer who take anticoagulants like aspirin in addition to radiation therapy or surgery may be able to cut their risk of dying of the disease by more than half, according to a large study presented at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) in San Diego. The study involved more than 5,000 men with localized cancer whose disease had not spread beyond the prostate gland.
"Evidence has shown that anticoagulants may interfere with cancer growth and spread," Kevin Choe, M.D., Ph.D., lead author of the study and a radiation oncologist at University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, said. "If the major effect of anticoagulants is preventing metastasis (the ability of cancer cells to spread to other parts of the body), this may be why previous clinical trials with anticoagulation medications produced mixed results, since most patients in these trials already had metastasis. If the cancer has already metastasized, then anticoagulants may not be as beneficial."
Researchers evaluated data from the Cancer of the Prostate Strategic Urological Research Endeavor (CaPSURE) database to investigate the effect of anticoagulation medications (aspirin, warfarin, clopidogrel and/or enoxaparin) on the risk of dying from prostate cancer among men whose cancer has not
metastasized.
The study involved 5,275 men whose cancer had not spread beyond the prostate gland (localized prostate cancer) and were treated with surgery or radiation, two of the most common treatment modalities for prostate cancer. Of these patients, 1,982 were taking anticoagulants. Patients were classified as having high-, intermediate- or low-risk disease.
Results of the study show that the use of anticoagulants among prostate cancer patients treated with either surgery or radiation reduced the risk of dying from the disease from 10 percent to 4 percent at 10 years. The risk of developing bone metastasis was also reduced. In addition, findings reveal that the benefit appeared even greater among patients diagnosed with high-risk prostate cancer. This is exciting news as patients with high-risk disease have the most aggressive cancer, with a high likelihood of dying from the disease, and the treatment options are currently
limited.
The study also found that the benefit was most prominent with aspirin, compared to other anticoagulants.
Choe said, "Findings from this study are promising, however, further studies are necessary before the addition of aspirin to prostate cancer therapy becomes standard
treatment."
The abstract, "Aspirin Use and the Risk of Prostate Cancer Death in Men Treated with Prostatectomy or Radiotherapy: Results from the CaPSURE Database," will be presented at a scientific session.
Source:
American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO)
(Januari 2011)
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