Entrez PubMed
Cancer Biol Ther. 2006 Jan 25;5(1) [Epub ahead of print]
Corticosteroid-Induced Chemotherapy Resistance in Urological Cancers.

Zhang C, et al. Molecular Urooncology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany.

Purpose: Glucocorticoids such as dexamethasone are widely used for medication of urological diseases, e.g., as cotreatment of advanced prostate cancer, to improve appetite, weight loss, fatigue, relieve bone pain, diminish ureteric obstruction, to reduce the production of adrenal androgens, as an antiemetic in patients undergoing chemo- and/or radiotherapy together with serving as “standard” therapy arm in randomized studies.

While the potent pro-apoptotic properties and the supportive effects of glucocorticoids to tumor therapy in lymphoid cells are well studied, the impact to growth of prostate and other urological carcinomas is unknown.

Methods: We isolated cells from surgical resections of 21 prostate tumors and measured apoptosis and viability in these primary cells and 17 established cell lines from human prostate, bladder, renal cell and testicular carcinomas.

Results: We found that dexamethasone induces resistance regarding exposure to several cytotoxic agents such as taxol, gemcitabine, cisplatin, 5-FU and gamma-irradiation in 86% of the freshly isolated prostate tumors and in 100% of the established urological cell lines.

No difference in dexamethasone-mediated protection was found in normal, benign and malignant prostate tumors.

Conclusions: These data show for the first time that dexamethasone induced therapy resistance in urological carcinomas is not the exception but a more common phenomenon and implicate that glucocorticoids may have two faces in cancer therapy, a beneficial and a dangerous one.

NOTE from psa-rising editor: This looks like a rather chilling early confirmation of a finding in breast cancer which we were concerned might apply also to prostate cancer. See:

Widely used anti-nausea drug, dexamethasone, may interfere with breast cancer chemotherapy

by J. Strax

Vitamin E and Prostate Cancer Benefits: Not Fully Resolved

BOSTON, Dec. 20 — The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recently recommended against routine vitamin use to prevent cancer and cardiovascular disease. The recommendation was based on a series of clinical trials that found that antioxidant supplements do not reduce the risks of these diseases.

However, just a few weeks later, results from the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta Carotene (ATBC) Cancer Prevention Trial showed that men with high blood levels of alpha-tocopherol (a form of vitamin E) had a lower risk of prostate cancer, reports Harvard Men’s Health Watch.

“The ATBC research provides some support for vitamin E, but it’s not conclusive,” notes Dr. Harvey Simon, editor in chief of Harvard Men’s Health Watch. “Although it was a well-conducted clinical trial, its primary goal was to evaluate lung cancer. More important, all the subjects were smokers.”

A few other studies looked into this matter and found that vitamin E was not consistently beneficial in reducing the risk of prostate cancer in smokers and nonsmokers.

The relationship between vitamin E and prostate cancer has yet another complexity. Vitamin E consists of a family of chemicals known as tocopherols. Alpha-tocopherol

M. D. Anderson Cancer Center – PIKNIC – Cancer-Related Fatigue
Cancer-Related Fatigue
From PIKNIC [M D. anderson's Patient and Cargiver Support Group]: Partners in Knowledge, News in Cancer 4/3/01
From PIKNIC: Partners in Knowledge, News in Cancer 4/3/01
What Do We Know?
Cancer-related fatigue is receiving lots of attention, but because it’s an emerging field, there is still much for researchers to learn. “The state of cancer-related fatigue today is much like cancer pain was 20 years ago,” says Tito Mendoza, Ph.D., an assistant professor in M. D. Anderson’s Pain Research Group. “We know it exists and are attempting to measure it, but more studies are needed for a better understanding of who experiences it and why.”

Some tips:
* Sit down to bathe, and instead of wasting energy drying off, wear a terrycloth robe that does the job for you
* When bathing or dressing, minimize leaning down or reaching. “There are many helpful gadgets that can help you with washing yourself, getting dressed or reaching objects,” says Lathem. The Sears Self-Care catalog and the J.C. Penney Special Needs catalog offer these devices for sale.
* Do housework sitting down whenever possible, and delegate heavier tasks to others
* Take frequent rest breaks, and stop working before you become tired
* Use convenience foods that can be prepared in a microwave or other small appliances, which require less effort to use
* Prepare double portions of food and freeze half
* When shopping, make an organized list by grocery aisle to eliminate unnecessary walking
* Let a grocery store worker carry your bags to the car
* Avoid lifting your children whenever possible. When playing with them, choose activities that allow you to sit down
* Use a wheelchair or cane
“Many people won’t leave the house in a chair or with a cane, because they think it makes them look old or feeble,” says Lathem. “My advice is get over it, because wouldn’t you rather save the energy it takes to walk for something you really love to do?”

12/16/2005 9:01:00 AM EST

Direct-to-consumer advertising promoting the use of erythropoietin to alleviate cancer-related fatigue fails to point out that the drug is only effective against fatigue caused by anemia. However, anemia is not a significant cause of fatigue in most cancer patients, according to a study in the December issue (Volume 8, Number 6) of Journal of Palliative Medicine, a peer-reviewed publication of Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., and the official journal of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. The paper is available free online at http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1089/jpm.2005.8.1144

Fatigue is one of the most common and debilitating symptoms for patients with cancer, affecting as many as 80% of patients. It can be devastating–making even routine tasks like going to work, shopping, or doing daily chores exhausting. Fatigue can, in turn, lead to hopelessness and despair. Current direct-to-consumer advertising in the U.S. gives the mistaken impression that anemia is the only cause of fatigue from cancer and chemotherapy. Further, the ads give false hope, implying that a drug to treat anemia will make everything better.

Multigraph
A free service of the Prostate Cancer Research and Education Foundation

MultiGraphs can be simple or complicated. You can preview thumbnails of the two types available free from PCREF.

Sometimes it is useful to see a graphical picture of your medical history, correlating in time the history of your PSA and other data with your tests and treatments. A MultiGraph is a one-page summary of PSA and any other numerical data you may have, other test results, and treatment starts and stops.

There are two ways of getting your first MultiGraph:
1. Enter your data online
or
2. Create a chronological digest file ….

Sick and Vulnerable, Workers Fear for Health and Their Jobs – New York Times
This story is free online, requires free registration. All the stories in the series Being a Patient are archived, and free to read.

Excerpts below, my comments in italics.

By LISA BELKIN
Published: December 17, 2005

When Marty Domitrovich was first told that he had cancer, he was a 51-year-old sales executive, so successful that he had two goals: to reach $1 million in commissions and bonuses and to become chief executive of his company, where he had worked since his summers in college.

Before long, however, he could no longer travel, and on the bad days he did his work at home, lying on the couch and talking on the telephone.
When Shannon Abert was first told she had scleroderma, she was 35, and an employee is treated after crossing the stark line from worker to patient is broadly defined by legislation. But it is more specifically determined by things like the culture of a workplace and the sensitivity of a boss….

“The diagnosis is a crisis in itself,” said Carolyn Messner, an oncology social worker and director of education and training for cancer care in Manhattan. “The next crisis is telling people.”

As reported by the Indychannel.coml:

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Researchers in Indiana are searching for people who have recurrent prostate cancer. Doctors at the Indiana University School of Medicine are testing a procedure sing sound waves to zap malignant tissue without destroying healthy tissue. The procedure is done in the doctor’s office. Participants must be between the ages of 40 and 80 and have had radiation to treat prostate cancer.

Further information by calling (317) 278-3434.

What it means — Indiana University Cancer Center, Indianapolis, Indiana, 46202-52 is recruiting for a trial of Ultrasound in Treating Patients With Locally Recurrent Prostate Cancer

Aim is to “Determine the ability of Sonablate to focus ultrasound waves for the purpose of selectively destroying prostate cancer tissue, with resultant drop in PSA levels to below 0.5 ng/mL and negative biopsy for cancer cells, in patients with locally recurrent prostate cancer.”

Doctor in charge, Michael O. Koch, MD, Study Chair, Indiana University School of Medicine

A free, illustrated section in the journal NATURE

Insight: Angiogenesis Vol. 438, No. 7070 pp889-1050

Health News Article | Reuters.com
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – A high lean body mass – calculated using an equation to determine body mass minus the fat — may lower the risk of prostate cancer, a new study indicates.

Prostate cancer is a hormone-related disease affected by a variety of other factors including genetics, age, ethnicity and family history. In the last few years, researchers started to suspect that body size might also affect the risk of prostate cancer, but research has provided conflicting results.

Most studies investigated body mass index, but this index includes lean and fat tissue, which may have different influences on the risk of cancer.

In an attempt to settle things, Dr. John S. Witte from the University of California, San Francisco,

News – UCI receives $9.5 million prostate cancer grant
UCI receives $9.5 million prostate cancer grant
Grant is among 10th largest received by the school.

By GARY ROBBINS
The Orange County Register

The federal government has awarded UC Irvine $9.5 million to develop a way to forecast the outcome of a person’s prostate cancer at the time they’re diagnosed, campus officials said today.

The grant is among the 10 largest in the university’s history and will be overseen by pathologist Dan Mercola, who will lead a team of scientists from UCI’s School of Medicine.

“The goal of the new study is to develop a ‘gene signature’ of prostate cancer for newly diagosed patients based on a tumor biopsy or blood examination,” UCI says in a news release. “This signature will let patients know if they have an aggressive form of cancer — allowing them to better understand their disease and make crucial decisions for appropriate early-stage treatment.”

Mercola said in the release, “We are aiming to meet a critical unmet need in prostate cancer treatment. Up to 30 perconet of men with prostate cancer do not need radical treatments like radiation or surgery, and this test will allow us to determine who these people are.”

psa-rising note: The money comes from NCI (National Cancer Institute) SPECS award:
http://www.cancer.gov/newscenter/pressreleases/SPECSawards