Epicatechins Purified from Green Tea (Camellia sinensis) Differentially Suppress Growth of Gender-Dependent Human Cancer Cell Lines.

The anticancer potential of catechins derived from green tea is not well understood, in part because catechin-related growth suppression and/or apoptosis appears to vary with the type and stage of malignancy as well as with the type of catechin. This in vitro study examined the biological effects of epicatechin (EC), epigallocatechin (EGC), EC 3-gallate (ECG) and EGC 3-gallate (EGCG) in cell lines from human gender-specific cancers. Cell lines developed from organ-confined (HH870) and metastatic (DU145) prostate cancer, and from moderately (HH450) and poorly differentiated (HH639) epithelial ovarian cancer were grown with or without EC, EGC, ECG or EGCG.

Long-term outcome for men with androgen independent prostate cancer treated with ketoconazole and hydrocortisone.

Purpose: The combination of high dose ketoconazole and hydrocortisone (HDK) is active against androgen independent prostate cancer (AIPC). Median response times with HDK tend to be brief but a significant minority of AIPC patients benefit with extended responses. Well characterized response and survival information, especially in the cohort of patients who experience these longer, more durable, responses has not been previously reported.

Endogenous immune response to gangliosides in patients with confined prostate cancer.

Our study investigated whether endogenous IgM antibodies to gangliosides occur in patients with early stages of prostate cancer (CaP) patients, after defining ganglioside profiles of CaP cell lines. Immune and resorcinol staining detected the presence of gangliosides GM3, GM2, GD3, GD2 and GD1a but not GM1a, GD1b or GT1b in the extracts of normal prostatic epithelial cells (PrEC) and neoplastic androgen-insensitive (PC-3, DU145) and -sensitive (LNCaP-FGC and LNCaP-FGC-10) CaP cells. Using a sensitive ELISA, developed and validated in our laboratory, the titers of IgM against 8 gangliosides from sera of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) (n = 11), organ-confined (T1/T2, n = 36) and unconfined (T3/T4, n = 27) CaP and age-matched healthy men (n = 11) were determined double-blinded.

Gangliosides of organ-confined versus metastatic androgen-receptor-negative prostate cancer.

Prior development of a unique androgen-receptor (AR)-negative cell line (HH870) from organ-confined (T2b) human prostate cancer (CaP) enabled comparison of the gangliosides associated with normal and neoplastic prostate epithelial cells, organ-confined versus metastatic (DU 145, PC-3), and AR-negative versus AR-positive CaP cell lines. Resorcinol-HCl and specific monoclonal antibodies were used to characterize gangliosides on 2D-chromatograms, and to visualize them on the cell surface with confocal-fluorescence microscopy. AR-negative cells expressed GM1b, GM2, GD2, GD1a, and GM3.

An open-label study of abarelix in men with symptomatic prostate cancer at risk of treatment with LHRH agonists.

Objectives: To evaluate the ability of abarelix, a gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist, to provide an alternative treatment to bilateral orchiectomy in men with advanced prostate cancer symptoms and to evaluate its safety, clinical and biochemical efficacy, and effects on prostate-specific antigen and serum hormone levels.

Methods: For 168 days, 81 patients from 17 centers received monthly intramuscular injections of open-label abarelix 100 mg (at least one dose). Patients were evaluated for the avoidance of bilateral orchiectomy, efficacy, disease response, percentage of change in prostate-specific antigen level, change in the intensity of pain, neurologic compromise, and other efficacy variables.