The natural compound xanthohumol blocks the effects of the male hormone testosterone, therefore aiding in the prevention of prostate cancer.
"We hope that one day we can demonstrate that xanthohumol prevents prostate cancer development, first in animal models and then in humans, but we are just at the beginning," said Clarissa Gerhauser, Ph.D., group leader of cancer chemoprevention in the Division of Epigenomics and Cancer Risk Factors at the German Cancer Research Center, in Heidelberg, Germany.
Gerhauser presented these findings at the American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, held in Houston, Dec. 6-9, 2009.
Xanthohumol is derived from hops and belongs to the group of flavonoids that are found in many plants, fruit, vegetables and spices. Studies to date have shown that xanthohumol blocks the action of estrogen by binding to its receptor, which may lead to prevention of breast cancer.
Since testosterone receptors act similarly to that of estrogen — by binding, then stimulating hormone-dependent effects, such as gene expression and cell growth — the researchers examined whether xanthohumol might not only block the effects of estrogen, but also of the male hormone androgen.
Gerhauser and colleagues stimulated hormone-dependent prostate cancer cells with testosterone, which led to a massive secretion of prostate specific antigen (PSA). PSA is used for screening and early detection of prostate cancer in men. Cells were then treated with testosterone and xanthohumol and the effects were examined.