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New Lab
Evidence suggests preventive effect of
Herbal Supplement in Prostate Cancer
Newswise — DHEA is a natural circulating
hormone and the body’s production of it
decreases with age. Men take DHEA as an
over-the-counter supplement because it has
been suggested that DHEA can reverse aging
or have anabolic effects since it can be
metabolized in the body to androgens.
Increased consumption of dietary isoflavones
is associated with a decreased risk of
prostate cancer.
Red clover (Trifolium pretense) is one
source of isoflavones. Both supplements may
have hormonal effects in the prostate and
little is known about the safety of these
supplements.
In a recent report in Cancer Prevention
Research, a journal of the American
Association for Cancer Research, researchers
report that DHEA levels can be manipulated
in cells in the laboratory to understand its
effects.
Julia Arnold, Ph.D., a staff scientist at
the National Center for Complementary and
Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) at the National
Institutes of Health, said more research is
necessary in an environment where men and
women concerned about health problems tend
to self-prescribe based on information they
find on the Internet.
Towards this end, the NCCAM laboratory is
studying signaling between human prostate
cancer cells and their supporting stromal
cells as they grow together in laboratory
culture.
“DHEA
effects in the prostate tissues may depend
on how these two cells types ‘talk to each
other’ and further, it may be potentially
harmful in tissues containing inflammation
or with early cancer lesions because the
cells can induce DHEA to become more
androgenic,” said Arnold.
Combining DHEA with transforming growth
factor beta-1 increased testosterone
production in the stromal cells and prostate
specific antigen protein secretion two to
four-fold and gene expression up to 50-fold
in the cancer cells.
When these cell cultures were treated with
red clover isoflavones, the androgenic
effects of DHEA were reversed.
“Something is happening in the prostate
tissue microenvironment that is illustrating
a potential cancer prevention effect from
this supplement,” said Arnold.
Red clover isoflavones may modify androgenic
effects in the prostate but much more work
in the laboratory and clinic is needed to
validate these effects.
This sort of laboratory manipulation will
allow scientists to understand the basic
prostate biology as well as learn cellular
and molecular mechanisms of over-the-counter
supplements and other botanical or herbal
agents.
Arnold said NCCAM will continue to study
DHEA with other supplements to determine any
cancer preventive effects.
The mission of the American Association for
Cancer Research is to prevent and cure
cancer. Founded in 1907, AACR is the world’s
oldest and largest professional organization
dedicated to advancing cancer research.
The membership includes more than 28,000
basic, translational and clinical
researchers; health care professionals; and
cancer survivors and advocates in the United
States and 80 other countries.
The AACR marshals the full spectrum of
expertise from the cancer community to
accelerate progress in the prevention,
diagnosis and treatment of cancer through
high-quality scientific and educational
programs.
It funds innovative, meritorious research
grants. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts
more than 17,000 participants who share the
latest discoveries and developments in the
field.
Special
conferences throughout the year present
novel data across a wide variety of topics
in cancer research, treatment and patient
care.
The AACR publishes five major peer-reviewed
journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer
Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics;
Molecular Cancer Research; and Cancer
Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
The AACR’s most recent publication and its
sixth major journal, Cancer Prevention
Research, is dedicated exclusively to cancer
prevention, from preclinical research to
clinical trials.
The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for
cancer survivors and their families, patient
advocates, physicians and scientists.
CR provides a forum for sharing essential,
evidence-based information and perspectives
on progress in cancer research, survivorship
and advocacy.
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