Estrogen receptor-β agonists in prostate cancer treatment
Posted Mar 02 2010 12:00am
A new paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science proposes the potential of a whole new class of agents in the treatment of prostate cancer.
McPherson et al. have reported data suggesting that some selective estrogen receptor-β (ERβ) agonists may have efficacy in the treatment of prostate cancer most specifically in patients who are refractory to standard forms of hormone therapy. Their study is based on the effects of the selective ERβ agonist known as 8β-VE2 in mice, so it will be a while before we know whether this strategy actually works in man.
In the same paper, the authors also report data suggesting that ERβ agonists might be useful in the management of benign prostatic hyperplasia or enlargement of the prostate.
In what is a complex and technically “dense” paper, the authors explain why the effects of ERβ agonists are different from the effects of medical and surgical castration and therefore why this form of therapy may be effective in situations when standard forms of hormonal manipulation of the androgen receptors are not effective. It may be possible to used ERβ agonists and other forms of estrogen therapy in the treatment of prostate cancer and BPH, but there will be a lot of work to do before we can be certain.
It should also be noted that there is a significant difference between the potential clinical use of ERβ agonists and other forms of estrogen-based therapy and the use of the older anti-estrogenic agents like diethylstilbestrol (DES) that were widely used before the availability of the LHRH agonists and antagonists.
An article on the UPI web site includes statements from the senior author of this study, Dr. Gail Risbridger of Monash University in Australia.
A new paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science proposes the potential of a whole new class of agents in the treatment of prostate cancer.
McPherson et al. have reported data suggesting that some selective estrogen receptor-β (ERβ) agonists may have efficacy in the treatment of prostate cancer most specifically in patients who are refractory to standard forms of hormone therapy. Their study is based on the effects of the selective ERβ agonist known as 8β-VE2 in mice, so it will be a while before we know whether this strategy actually works in man.
In the same paper, the authors also report data suggesting that ERβ agonists might be useful in the management of benign prostatic hyperplasia or enlargement of the prostate.
In what is a complex and technically “dense” paper, the authors explain why the effects of ERβ agonists are different from the effects of medical and surgical castration and therefore why this form of therapy may be effective in situations when standard forms of hormonal manipulation of the androgen receptors are not effective. It may be possible to used ERβ agonists and other forms of estrogen therapy in the treatment of prostate cancer and BPH, but there will be a lot of work to do before we can be certain.
It should also be noted that there is a significant difference between the potential clinical use of ERβ agonists and other forms of estrogen-based therapy and the use of the older anti-estrogenic agents like diethylstilbestrol (DES) that were widely used before the availability of the LHRH agonists and antagonists.
An article on the UPI web site includes statements from the senior author of this study, Dr. Gail Risbridger of Monash University in Australia.