Exploring Estrogen Treatment for Testosterone-Independent Prostate Cancer.
Estrogens have been used to treat prostate cancer (CaP) since the 1940s. Originally, it was thought that estrogens worked by lowering androgen (Testosterone) production, another hormone that is thought to fuel CaP growth. But more recent studies have shown that estrogens can also slow down the growth of CaP in low-androgen conditions, suggesting they have other ways of acting against CaP.
In this study, researchers treated a type of CaP that doesn't depend on androgens to grow (androgen-independent CaP) with a specific estrogen called 17β estradiol (E2). They found that E2 slowed down the growth of all four types of androgen-independent CaP they studied in male mice with low androgen levels.
To understand how E2 works, the researchers examined changes in gene activity in the treated tumors. They found that E2 treatment changed the activity of many genes, including those involved in immune responses and androgen receptor signaling. These changes might be involved in how E2 slows down CaP growth.
In conclusion, this study suggests that estrogens, such as E2, can slow down CaP growth in low-androgen conditions and might do so through different mechanisms, such as affecting immune responses and androgen receptor signaling. These findings suggest that including estrogens in CaP treatment could improve outcomes, even in the advanced stages of the disease. Coleman, I. M., Kiefer, J. A., Brown, L. G., Pitts, T. E., Nelson, P. S., Brubaker, K. D., Vessella, R. L., & Corey, E. (2006). Inhibition of androgen-independent prostate cancer by estrogenic compounds is associated with increased expression of immune-related genes. Neoplasia (New York, N.Y.), 8(10), 862–878.
We have shown previously that research shows that high levels of estrogen-like estradiol seem to decrease cardiovascular risk in men.
So, given that we know that Testosterone is aromatized to estradiol in the body; when men are young and their T levels are high, their E2 levels would also be high. . . and the incidence of prostate cancer in these young individuals is low to absent. . . could it be that estradiol simply prevents prostate cancer growth?
Jason & Rita
