To screen or not to screen for prostate cancer in men remains in question in Europe as two recent studies presented at the European Urology Association meeting last month reveal. In a session on screening, two urologists, Dr. Schroeder of Rotterdam and Dr. Pelzer of Innsbruck, presented data in support of contrasting positions.

Scientists have found evidence that the stress hormone epinephrine causes changes in prostate and breast cancer cells that may make them resistant to treatment. Learning how to cope well with stress could play a role in preventing and treating the disease.

“This data implies that emotional stress may contribute to the development of cancer and may also reduce the effectiveness of cancer treatments,” said George Kulik of Wake Forest University, the senior researcher on the project.
For full story with links to related research go here….

A week before the FDA advisory committee meeting on Dendreon’s Provenge, investment analyst Adam Feuerstein predicted that if Provenge is approved it could generate over $100 million in sales in 2008. Feuerstein’s estimate is based on a projected price of $30,000 per year per course of the vaccine. His model assumes increasing numbers of men living with (and dying of) metastatic androgen independent refractory prostate cancer (AIPrC) over the next decade.

For an overview of 3 main types of immunotherapies, or therapeutic vaccines, in trials for prostate cancer see Round Table meeting held on April 1, 2005 in Boston, Massachusetts. This meeting was paid for by Cell Genesys. Contents (with charts and explanatory cartoons):

FUNDAMENTALS OF TUMOR IMMUNOLOGY
RELEVANT TO PROSTATE CANCER IMMUNOTHERAPY
Charles G. Drake, MD, PhD
The Sidney Kimmell Comprehensive Cancer Center Johns Hopkins Medical Center

POXVIRUS VACCINES
Robert S. DiPaola, MD
The Cancer Institute of New Jersey

TUMOR CELL VACCINES
Jonathan Simons, MD
Emory University School of Medicine

DENDRITIC CELL VACCINES
Johannes Vieweg, MD
Duke University Medical Center

Cell Genesys says the 22 patients in their Phase 2 trial of GVAX who received the most effective tolerable dose — “the dose that is comparable to that being employed in the company’s ongoing Phase 3 program”– reached median survival of 35.0 months.

This trial enrolled men with hormone refractory prostate cancer. Cell Genesys previously reported final median survival results from its first multi-center Phase 2 trial of GVAX as 26.2 months.

“The survival results from the two, independent multi-center Phase 2 clinical trials compare favorably to the previously published median survival of 18.9 months for metastatic hormone-refractory prostate cancer patients treated with Taxotere(R) (docetaxel) chemotherapy plus prednisone, the current standard of care for these patients. The company’s ongoing Phase 3 program is designed to confirm this potential survival benefit for GVAX immunotherapy for prostate cancer.”

Read the full press release

An Australian man has died after swallowing 10,000 times the daily dose of selenium, reports The Age online newspaper. The 75-year-old mistakenly “purchased sodium selenite powder used primarily as a supplement for livestock, swallowing 10 grams.”

The man’s case is reported was reported October 2 in the Medical Journal of Australia (“Accidental death from acute selenium poisoning“).

According to The Age, Australian doctors who treated the 75-year-old “have used his death to highlight the dangers of promoting complementary medicines without adequate instructions.” The doctors blame the internet.

Selenium for human consumption, as sold in pharmacies, health stores and supermarkets , typically comes in 200 microgram pills or capsules, which may be printed “200 mcg.”

Rana P. Singh and team at U Colorado (Denver) have found that silibinin, the major active constituent of silymarin (Milk Thistle) , in mice inhibits lung tumor angiogenesis. They conclude that silibinin “merits investigation as a chemopreventive agent for suppressing lung cancer progression.”

Earlier work has shown that silibinin is helpful for liver toxicity, protects against kidney damage from chemotherapy, and inhibits prostate cancer growth in mice.

The effect of silibinin on prostate cancer cells is one of those stories where most of the research has been done over a number of years by one team, in this case led by Rana Singh at U Colorado. Would be nice to see confirmation from other labs. But silibinin is not going to be a money-tree. Milk Thistle is readily available in normal strengths.

Human trials of silibinin for the treatment of prostate cancer are underway at U. Colorado.

Nicholas DeWolf, inventor, computer expert and philosopher, died Sunday April 12 in a hospital in Aspen, CO age 77 of complications from a stroke and prostate cancer.

This post has been moved to:

http://psa-rising.com/blog/index.php/2006/05/02/nickdewolfe-obit/

RICHMOND, Va., April 12 /PRNewswire/ — Selenium levels may predict the
risk of a man’s prostate cancer, and now a simple, reliable selenium
test is available.

The first selenium test that predicts prostate cancer risk, SeleniumHealth(TM), is now available exclusively from Bostwick Laboratories, Inc., an international diagnostic pathology laboratory. A man simply trims one or more toenails and submits the clippings for selenium content. SeleniumHealth(TM) is provided by Bostwick Laboratories, Inc. under license from the Gerald P. Murphy Cancer Foundation.

Press release at: Bostwick Labs