Androgen News and Research

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How advanced prostate cancer becomes resistant to androgen-deprivation therapy

For the past 70 years the treatment of choice for advanced, metastatic prostate cancer has been androgen-deprivation therapy. That is, the suppression of circulating testosterone - the hormone that fuels prostate-cancer growth - via surgical castration (orchiectomy) or medical castration with testosterone-blocking drugs. While such therapy buys time for patients, it is not a cure, as inevitably the cancer becomes resistant to the androgen deprivation and continues to grow.

2 Jun 2008

Novel chemo drug helps treat prostate cancer

Men with a certain type of prostate cancer have been shown to respond to a new chemotherapy drug, Sagopilone, plus prednisone in an international trial led by Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute researchers.

1 Jun 2008

How advanced prostate cancer becomes resistant to androgen-deprivation therapy

1 Jun 2008

Estrogen drives distinct, aggressive prostate cancer

Using a breakthrough technology, researchers led by a Weill Cornell Medical College scientist have pinpointed the hormone estrogen as a key player in about half of all prostate cancers.

28 May 2008

Many men with androgen deficiency do not receive treatment

The majority of men with androgen deficiency may not be receiving treatment despite having sufficient access to care, according to a report in the May 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

26 May 2008

Hirsutism in premenopausal women - new treatment guidelines

The Endocrine Society has released new clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of hirsutism in premenopausal women. The guidelines appear in the April issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), a publication of The Endocrine Society.

22 Apr 2008

The limits of observational data in determining outcomes from cancer therapy

Certain biases may exist in observational studies that compare outcomes of different cancer therapies, making the results questionable.

21 Apr 2008

Lipitor and Celebrex combined may halt prostate cancer

Researchers at Rutgers' Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy have shown that administering a combination of the widely used drugs Celebrex (celecoxib, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug) and Lipitor (atorvastatin, a cholesterol lowering drug) stops the transition of early prostate cancer to its more aggressive and potentially fatal stage.

15 Apr 2008

Cancer prevention

Tapping into a growing body of knowledge about the origins and progression of cancer, researchers are now developing and testing new preventive therapies to stop it in its tracks.

15 Apr 2008

Medicare reimbursement changes likely influenced changes in prostate cancer treatment

Financial pressures from Medicare reimbursement changes may have caused physicians to switch from providing hormonal-induced castration to providing surgical castration for men with prostate cancer.

13 Apr 2008

Healthy male reproductive organs depend on early hormone activity

A discovery by Medical Research Council scientists looking at the development of male foetuses could help explain the origin of common genital disorders that can cause reproductive problems or increase risk of low sperm counts and possibly testicular cancer later in life.

20 Mar 2008

Blocking a signaling protein kills prostate cancer cells

Researchers at Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia have shown that they can effectively kill prostate cancer cells in both the laboratory and in experimental animal models by blocking a signaling protein that is key to the cancer's growth.

28 Feb 2008

OHSU Cancer Institute research gives hope for chemo holidays for men with advanced prostate cancer

Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute researchers, in a first-of-its-kind study, have found that even men with advanced prostate cancer can take a much-needed safe break, or holiday, from chemotherapy.

27 Feb 2008

Women with hgher levels of DHEAS have better cognitive function

Women with naturally higher levels of the hormone precursor DHEAS were found to have better cognitive function than women with lower levels, according to a new study appearing in the March issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

22 Feb 2008

Female-to-male transsexuals have higher androgen levels, not polycystic ovary syndrome

Contrary to previous studies, female-to-male transsexuals do not have a higher prevalence of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), though they do have significantly higher androgen levels, according to a new study accepted for publication in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

21 Feb 2008

$Hormone refractory prostate cancers more likely to spread to other organs$

Hormone refractory prostate cancers more likely to spread to other organs

Prostate cancers that are resistant to androgen deprivation therapy are more invasive and more likely to spread to other organs than androgen dependent prostate cancers, UCLA cancer researchers have found.

21 Feb 2008

$Hormone refractory prostate cancers more likely to spread to other organs$

Hormone refractory prostate cancers more likely to spread to other organs

20 Feb 2008

Treatment with hormone suppression therapy and radiation improves survival for certain prostate cancer patients

Men with localized prostate cancer who were treated with male hormone suppression therapy and radiation treatment had longer survival, but those with moderate to high levels of other illnesses did not experience this effect, according to a study in the January 23 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

23 Jan 2008

Cancer stem cell marker also drives transcription in normal cells

New research links the recently discovered function of a multi-faceted transcriptional complex to control of gene expression in both normal cells and cancer stem cells.

18 Jan 2008

Gender differences in liver cancer

A fundamental difference in the way males and females respond to chronic liver disease at the genetic level helps explain why men are more prone to liver cancer, according to MIT researchers.

16 Jan 2008