Prostate Cancer Preventable By Vitamin D Analogs

The most common cancer of men is prostate cancer. New research studies point towards its being preventable . Calcitriol, an active metabolite of vitamin D and other vitamin D analogs, may help prevent prostate cancer, according to a study presented Nov. 1, at the American Association for Cancer Research's 4th annual Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research meeting in Baltimore.

The study funded by the National Institute of Health and conducted at Roswell Park Cancer Institute was meant to examine the effect of calcitriol and two analogs, QW-1624-F2-2 and paricalcitol, on the prevention of prostate cancer.

Calcitriol has already been clinically used to treat many disorders. Trials are under way to test its chemotherapeutic effect on established cancer. QW and particalcitol (Zemplar) have shown to reduce parathyroid hormone levels, which regulate the metabolism of calcium and phosphorus.

The study of the transgenic adenocarcinoma of mouse prostate (TRAMP) model, which develops prostate cancer as the mice age, found that both calcitriol and QW slowed the progression of prostate cancer after 14 weeks of treatment. Additionally, chronic treatment of mice with calcitriol reduced tumour burden, although side-effects manifested in some mice.

However, the anticancer effect of calcitriol and QW was not found on hormone refractory prostate cancer in castrated mice.

"Our pre-clinical data using the TRAMP mouse model, which mimics human prostate cancer, suggests that calcitriol and QW-1624-F2-2 are promising for prevention of androgen-dependent prostate cancer progression," said Adebusola Alagbala of Roswell Park Cancer Institute, who was also lead author of the study.

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Source: American Association for Cancer Research's 4th annual Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research meeting in Baltimore.