Prostate cancer is a disease of aging, brought about by changes in cellular biochemistry which result in an imbalance in the prooxidant-antioxidant balance, and in the cellular response to androgens which this brings about. No doubt there is also a genetic susceptibility underlying all this, but nevertheless, prostate cancer strikes as many as 75 percent of men by age 80, so there is more than genetics at work. Many advanced cases of prostate cancer become resistant to chemotherapy, making the prognosis for those men dismal. It has been shown that many multidrug resistance associated proteins are involved in this resistance to therapy, and if their exact role can be elucidated, perhaps it will be possible to break this resistance. Non-steroidal-antiinflammatory-drug-activated gene protein has been found consistently in prostate cancers, but not in benign prostate tissue, and rarely in other tumors. ItÆs role in tumorigenesis of prostate cancer remains to be elucidated. This paper will review some of recent biochemical investigations into mechanisms involved in prostate cancer, and discuss their findings.
Non-steroidal antiinflammatory drug (NSAID), NSAID-activated gene (NAG-1), Sa-dihydrotestosterone (DHT)
In the United States, prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed solid tumor in men, and can be found in a pre-clinical or clinical form in approximately 30 percent to 40 percent of men by age 30 to 50 years (1). This figure increases to 75 percent by the time men reach the age of 80 years: prostate Cancer is a disease of aging. The cause of prostate cancer is not known, but it is believed that certain men have a predisposition to the disease, and it is brought out of latency by exposure to androgens and other hormones, infectious agents, and possibly dietary and environmental factors. The effect of androgens is borne out by the fact that prostate cancer is not found in eunuchs or men with a deficiency in Sa-r...