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New drug allows better treatment of aggressive prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a disease that threatens many older men worldwide. Scientists now found that men with aggressive prostate cancer could potentially benefit from conventional treatment. A drug normally used to overcome drug resistance may now be the new hope for aggressive prostate cancer patients. The drugs are referred to as Hsp90 inhibitors.
Researchers from the Institute of Cancer Research have now concluded that Hsp90 inhibitors provide better treatment for aggressive prostate cancer. The drugs can overcome the drug's resistance to conventional treatments. The researchers report their findings in a recent press release.
Physicians have found that Hsp90 inhibitors enable the treatment of aggressive prostate cancer, even if it has already developed some drug resistance. (Image: tashatuvango / fotolia.com) Treatment of resistant prostate cancer possible?
Prostate cancer threatens the lives of countless sufferers worldwide. He is one of the most common cancer of the man. The disease is the third most common lethal cancer worldwide after lung and colon cancer. Prostate cancer is still asymptomatic in its early stages. At an advanced stage, symptoms such as bone pain, urinary problems, later weight loss and anemia may occur, say the experts. Scientists have now discovered that drug-resistant prostate cancer can be treated with Hsp90 inhibitors. The drug offers the potential to develop new ways to treat prostate cancer, the researchers explain.
Prostate cancer interferes with our androgen receptors
In the treatment of aggressive prostate cancer, there are sometimes disorders of the androgen receptors, which then lead to resistance to hormone treatments, say the authors. Hsp90 inhibitors could still allow treatment in such a resistant body. Hsp90 inhibitors are among the newly developed drugs that can indirectly treat cancers, explain the physicians. To do so, they destabilize several proteins responsible for the growth and survival of cancer cells. By destroying several cancer signals all at once, it becomes difficult for the cancer to escape treatment, the doctors add. The tumors that occur in prostate cancer require androgens to grow. Cancer cells often produce abnormal forms of androgen receptors. These then continuously pour out androgens all the time. Blocking the androgen receptors could provide an effective treatment for the cancer, say the experts.
When conventional therapies do not respond
In their study, the researchers investigated the inhibitory effect of Hsp90 on human cancer cells, most commonly produced by androgen receptors. These are called AR-V7. AR-V7 producing androgen receptors were injected into mice in a test. Hsp90 was able to reduce the production of AR-V7, say the medical profession. It also reduced the levels of normal androgen receptors and other molecules important for prostate cancer, called AKT and GR. Hsp90 inhibitors can simultaneously block multiple signals triggered by the cancer, not just a single pathway, explains co-author Professor Paul Workman of the Institute of Cancer Research. The drug is more effective in fighting cancer because it can not block just one protein. In addition, he says, "It's very promising for preventing and overcoming drug resistance," adds the author. Hsp90 made it possible to treat patients who would not otherwise respond to therapy.
We have shown for the first time that Hsp90 inhibitors block the production of the most common abnormal androgen receptors. These help the cancer to spread and no longer respond to treatments, says Professor Johann de Bono of the Institute of Cancer Research. The drugs are already undergoing clinical trials for various types of cancer, and the researchers were thrilled that even men with prostate cancer could benefit from them, who would otherwise no longer have treatment options. (As)