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Prostate cancer treatment or Alzheimer's risk? A new study has shed new light on this issue. If you or someone you know is suffering from prostate cancer then this information is very important for you. According to a study, standard hormone therapy for prostate cancer may increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease in men. Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is used to treat prostate cancer. It reduces testosterone (the most common androgen), which cancer needs to grow
Researchers at Georgia Medical College, Augusta University in the US reported that the therapy removes androgens. Excessive androgen removal increases the risk of Alzheimer's. Qin Wang, director of the Alzheimer's Clinical Discovery Program at MCG, said that we know that prostate cancer affects men over the age of 65, who are already at high risk of Alzheimer's due to their age.
However, in a paper published in the journal Science Advances, they said the role of androgen deprivation therapy was largely not understood. To understand this, the team created an animal model with Alzheimer's disease and cancer. The team used ADT for eight weeks while monitoring androgen levels and tumor size. Next, the team developed other animal models. A so-called wild type (without Alzheimer's or cancer), a group with only Alzheimer's and a group with only cancer that were given ADT therapy. While there was no significant difference in plaque load at the end of eight weeks, they found greater activity in “glial cells (which are part of the central nervous system)” in the cancer group and the treated group ,
swelling in the brain
Qin Wang said this indicates inflammation in the brain. In addition, they found an increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines, which increase inflammation. At the same time, a decrease in anti-inflammatory cytokines was found. The decrease was particularly seen in animals with Alzheimer's and cancer who were given ADT. Wang said the important thing was that the animals' blood-brain block was significantly damaged. ADT treatment is actually making the blood-brain block more permeable. This may explain why there is so much more inflammation in that group.
What is the solution?
The combination of ADT and natalizumab has been used to treat multiple sclerosis and Crohn's disease. The team also treated mice with Alzheimer's and cancer. The treatment reduced infiltration, resulting in improved blood-brain barrier function. The pro-inflammatory cycle also decreased, while other things improved. “We know that it is not just about amyloid plaques, but the immune system process is also a major contributing factor here,” Wang said on clinical trials in patients who underwent ADT for prostate cancer.