20 May, 2012 by Neuschwanstein
Around 36,000 British men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year, making it the most common cancer for men. More than 75% of men with prostate cancer will survive beyond five years after diagnosis ? this is because unlike some other cancers, prostate cancer isn?t always aggressive.
However, once prostate cancer has been diagnosed, patients are often told to ?watch and wait? ? no surgical procedure or medication is prescribed. This can be incredibly stressful for the patient. Now, though, research from the Robert H Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Centre of Northwestern University, US, indicates that there may be a simple way to help prevent the spread of cancer from the prostate to other parts of the body: using a chemical extracted from soya protein.
Genistein is a naturally occurring substance found in soya and the researchers wanted to see how it affected the growth of tumours, as well as whether or not it inhibited cancer cells from moving to other parts of the body. Using animal studies, the researchers found that it did indeed have that effect.
Prostate cancer
The same researchers then did a study with 38 male participants, to see if genistein would be as effective in humans. The study participants, all of whom had localised prostate cancer, were given genistein daily, in the form of a tablet for one month before a planned surgery to remove the prostate.
When the researchers examined the prostates that had been removed from the study participants during surgery, they found that the genistein had increased the number of cells which help to suppress cancer growth, and also helped hinder the production of genes which speed cancer growth.
This is not the first time a medication to stop cancer cell movement has been tested, but until now there was no evidence that any of the medications were effective, or when they were effective, they were also found to be toxic. This soya-extracted substance is non-toxic, so could be a life-saving breakthrough for prostate cancer sufferers.
Category Health | Tags: , Cancer, Prostate cancer, psa, psa levels, PSA test, soy, soya protein
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