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PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:dateCreated
1993-4-21
pubmed:abstractText
Prostate cancer is the most frequently occurring non-skin cancer in men in the U.S.A. and other Western countries, but its etiology is poorly understood. Human prostate carcinogenesis has been viewed as a multi-step process involving progression from low histologic grade, small latent carcinoma, to large, higher grade, metastasizing carcinoma. However, recent data suggest that a variety of pathogenetic pathways exist. The precise role of hormones in the genesis of human prostate cancer remains largely undefined. It is difficult to investigate stages in the development of human prostate cancer, but some animal models provide opportunities in this regard. Short-term treatment of rats with chemical carcinogens will produce a low incidence (5-15%) of prostate cancer, provided that prostatic cell proliferation is enhanced during carcinogen exposure. A high carcinoma incidence can only be produced by chronic treatment with testosterone following administration of carcinogens such as N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU). Testosterone markedly enhances prostate carcinogenesis even at doses that do not measurably increase circulating testosterone. Thus, testosterone is a strong tumor promoter for the rat prostate. All such MNU-initiated, testosterone-promoted tumors are adenocarcinomas mostly originating from the dorsolateral and anterior, but not ventral, prostate lobes. A high frequency (70%) of activation of the K-ras gene by a G35 to A mutation occurs in these carcinomas. A variable frequency of activation of H-ras and K-ras genes occurs in human prostate carcinomas. Another rat model, representing a different pathogenetic pathway, involves chronic administration of estradiol-17 beta in combination with low-dose testosterone. The resulting carcinomas are low-grade and originate exclusively from periurethral ducts of the dorsolateral and anterior prostate. We recently found a major adduct by 32P postlabeling analysis in the tissue region that includes these ducts, but not in, e.g., the ventral prostate, of rats treated for 16-24 weeks. While it is unknown whether testosterone is a tumor promoter in this system, the presence of a DNA adduct suggests that estradiol-17 beta acts as a tumor-initiating agent in this system.
pubmed:grant
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:author
pubmed:volume
22
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
109-23
pubmed:dateRevised
2007-11-14
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1991
pubmed:articleTitle
Multistage prostate carcinogenesis: the role of hormones.
pubmed:affiliation
Institute of Environmental Medicine, NYU Medical Center, Tuxedo 10987.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S., Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S., Review, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't