The prostate cancer ‘testosterone paradox’ solved

About one in eight American men will get prostate cancer in their lifetime, and one in 41 will die from the disease. It’s the second leading cause of death among American men (right behind lung cancer).

A lot is known about how diet and exercise can reduce a man’s risk of ending up with prostate cancer. But in terms of the standard treatment, one mystery remains.

Or it did, until a group of dedicated cancer researchers found the answer that had been eluding us…

The testosterone paradox

Many men with prostate cancer are put on hormone therapy (also called androgen deprivation therapy or ADT) to reduce levels of testosterone and keep the hormone from fueling cancer cells.

This is one half of the testosterone paradox…

While blocking testosterone production halts tumor growth in the early stages of prostate cancer, elevating testosterone levels can have the same positive effect in later stages of the disease.

The reasons for this have puzzled experts until a Duke Cancer Institute study uncovered the explanation…

Testosterone: one hormone, diverse cancer functions

The answer turned out to be pretty simple.

When testosterone levels are low, testosterone receptors in cancer cells tend to “go solo.” They activate the pathways that cause cancer cells to grow and spread — effectively paving the way for more cancer growth.

But as testosterone levels rise, the same receptors are forced to work in pairs. This creates a different form of receptor that stops tumor growth.

“Nature has designed a system where low doses of hormones stimulate cancer cell proliferation and high doses cause differentiation and suppress growth, enabling the same hormone to perform diverse functions,” says Dr. Donald McDonnell, in whose lab this experiment was performed.

Late-stage BAT protocol closer to becoming mainstream treatment

Prior to this, oncologists knew that a monthly injection of testosterone given to patients with late-stage prostate cancer — a technique called bi-polar androgen therapy, or BAT — helped to slow the advance of tumors and prolong life in many cases.

But they didn’t know why it worked and that hindered widespread adoption of the treatment protocol.

Now that the mechanisms are clear, the path is open to adopting this as a more mainstream approach to treating advanced cases of prostate cancer, and Dr. McDonnell hopes his study will pave the way.

“Our study describes how BAT and like approaches work and could help physicians select patients who are most likely to respond to this intervention,” he says.

“We have already developed new drugs that exploit this new mechanism and are bringing these to the clinic for evaluation as prostate cancer therapeutics.”

How to reduce risk for prostate cancer

As I mentioned earlier, a healthy diet, especially one rich in cruciferous vegetables, and exercise can contribute to preventing prostate cancer. Exercise may even suppress tumor growth in advanced prostate cancer.

Maintaining a healthy weight is important. But even more crucial is that you don’t carry a load of belly fat, better known as visceral fat.

Visceral fat has a mind of its own. It’s not just fat – it’s an organ that is biochemically active and can disrupt hormones, including prostate-specific antigen (PSA) the hormone behind prostate cancer.

So your mission, then, is to keep that spare tire from catching up with you.

Here are a dozen habits that pack on dangerous belly fat. Not surprisingly, they include eating processed foods and drinking soda with aspartame, which actually increases belly fat.

But take a close look – because some of them may surprise you.

Sources:

Study solves testosterone’s paradoxical effects in prostate cancer — Eureka Alert

Androgen receptor monomers and dimers regulate opposing biological processes in prostate cancer cells — Nature Communications