Excess Zinc in Muscles Contributes to Wasting Syndrome in Cancer

Discovery could lead to treatments for this condition, cachexia

PSA Rising August 5, 2018 (NEW YORK, NY, June 6, 2018)—About one-third of all cancer deaths are caused not by the cancer itself but by cachexia—a debilitating muscle-wasting syndrome that affects an estimated 80 percent of advanced cancer patients. Cachexia is linked to reduced tolerance for cancer therapy, poor quality of life, and accelerated death, but there are no effective treatments and its cause is still largely unknown.

A new multicenter, internal study led by researchers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center suggests that an overload of zinc in patients’ muscles may be the culprit. The findings, published online June 6 in Nature Medicine, could pave the way for the development of drugs to treat or prevent muscle wasting in advanced cancer patients. Continue reading “Excess Zinc in Muscles Contributes to Wasting Syndrome in Cancer”

RESPOND is the First Large-Scale Study on African-American Men with Prostate Cancer

August 3, PSA Rising. African American men are more likely to develop prostate cancer than men of any other race and the disease is often more aggressive when diagnosed.

Now, African American touched by prostate cancer are being asked to join an ambitious study to find out why African-American men are at higher risk for developing more aggressive forms of prostate cancer and why they are more likely to die from it.

African American prostate cancer patient-survivors invited to join RESPOND study.ivors invited to join RESPOND study
Facing prostate cancer together. African American prostate cancer patient-survivors invited to join nationwide RESPOND study. Photo source: newsroom: Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey

Called RESPOND, this nationwide study aims to attract 10,000 African-American men  to participate. The $26.5 million effort will look at the role of social stressors and genetics in the development of prostate cancer in African-American men. Continue reading “RESPOND is the First Large-Scale Study on African-American Men with Prostate Cancer”

An ‘Achilles Heel’ for Aggressive Prostate Cancer Found, UCSF says

Resistant Cancers Self-Destruct When Exposed to Experimental Drug

May 3, 2018. PSA Rising / UCSF / San Francisco researchers have discovered a promising new line of attack against lethal, treatment-resistant prostate cancer. Analysis of hundreds of human prostate tumors revealed that the most aggressive cancers depend on a built-in cellular stress response to put a brake on their own hot-wired physiology. Experiments in mice and with human cells showed that blocking this stress response with an experimental drug — previously shown to enhance cognition and restore memory after brain damage in rodents — causes treatment-resistant cancer cells to self-destruct while leaving normal cells unaffected.

Metastatic prostate cancer cells treated with experimental drug ISRIB.
Metastatic human prostate cancer cells transplanted into a mouse self-destruct (red) when treated with ISRIB, an experimental drug that exposes cancer cells to their full, unhealthy appetite for protein synthesis. Credit: Ruggero Lab / UCSF

The new study was published online May 2, 2018 in Science Translational Medicine. Continue reading “An ‘Achilles Heel’ for Aggressive Prostate Cancer Found, UCSF says”