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Tag: Men

  • Steroid use linked to higher concussion risk in high school athletes

    Steroid use linked to higher concussion risk in high school athletes

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    Newswise — Higher body mass index and increased aggression caused by steroid use could increase the potential for sustaining a concussion, researchers say

    More than half of US high school athletes who use anabolic steroids report having sustained a concussion, compared to around a fifth of those who do not use steroids, a new study published in the Journal of Osteopathic Medicine finds.

    Kennedy Sherman of Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine at Cherokee Nation and colleagues used data from a Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) survey to examine the incidence of steroid use and concussion in US high school athletes.

    The researchers found that 3.7% of such athletes reported previous steroid use and 20.7% reported having sustained a concussion. For athletes who did not use steroids, 19.6% reported a concussion, but for those using steroids, the rate of concussions was significantly higher at 54.6%.

    The use of anabolic steroids by US high school athletes is a well-documented problem. Most athletes use them to increase muscle strength and lean muscle mass which can lead to an increase in body mass index (BMI). The use of anabolic steroids can also lead to severe, long-lasting and sometimes irreversible damage. They can cause early heart attacks, strokes, liver tumors, kidney failure, male infertility and psychiatric problems, as well as having behavioral impacts such as increased aggression and anxiety, and decreased impulse control.

    Kennedy Sherman says: “The neurobehavioral shifts of steroid use may lead to increased aggressive play and a subsequent heightened risk for concussions. Moreover, athletes using steroids are likely to have higher muscle volume and increased muscle strength, amplifying the momentum and impact of head-on collisions. Steroid use and concussions each have numerous health consequences, and when occurring together in a person, these effects may be amplified.”

    The study also found that the prevalence of steroid use among high school athletes decreased from 3.4% in 1999 to 1.9% in 2019, with the highest rates occurring in 2001 and 2003 at 5.3% and 4.4% respectively. However, its use varied significantly across ethnic groups, with the highest rate being 7.2% for the American Indian/Alaska Native group.

    The researchers stressed the need for coaches to be aware of potential steroid use among players, and urge coaches, trainers and physicians to apply concussion protocols and remove players from games for evaluation when a concussion is suspected.

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  • Precision medicine navigators increase genomic testing rates for Black patients with prostate cancer

    Precision medicine navigators increase genomic testing rates for Black patients with prostate cancer

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    Newswise — SAN DIEGO, October 1, 2023 — The presence of a clinical navigator to act as a liaison between people with prostate cancer and the health care system greatly increases the likelihood that patients, especially Black patients, will receive advanced testing that can help predict the severity of their disease and guide treatment, a new study suggests.

    The study showed patients seen by a precision medicine navigator were substantially more likely to receive genomic testing than those not seen by the navigator. Black patients, whose genomic testing rates traditionally are much lower than white patients, experienced a six-fold increase if they were seen by a navigator. Findings will be presented today at the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Meeting. 

    “Black patients with prostate cancer in the U.S. have disparately worse clinical outcomes compared to other racial groups,” said lead study author Alexander J. Allen, MD, a radiation oncology resident physician at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. “Our findings suggest hiring a precision medicine navigator who specializes in genetic testing can improve the rates of Black patients receiving these tests, which could potentially reduce health disparities and improve outcomes.”

    Research shows Black patients are 76% more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer than white patients and 120% more likely to die from it. This disparity stems from many factors, including lower rates of early prostate cancer screening that result in more aggressive cancers by the time Black patients are diagnosed.

    Genomic testing is used to gauge the likelihood that a cancer will metastasize, or spread beyond the prostate, within the next five to 10 years; the most common form of this test is called Decipher, which analyzes RNA markers in tumor tissue samples. Research presented at ASTRO’s 2021 Annual Meeting suggested genomic testing may be better at predicting the risk for metastases than conventional prostate cancer tests, such as the Gleason score and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels. Dr. Allen said oncologists use the results of all three tests to guide treatment decisions.

    “Genomic testing provides additional information that can alter a patient’s treatment plan,” he said. “For example, if Gleason scores and PSA levels suggest a patient has an intermediate risk for metastases, but the genetic analysis categorizes them at high risk because of the biological makeup of the tumor, then you might intensify treatment.”

    Precision medicine navigators are people whose job is focused entirely on identifying patients eligible for genomic testing and then making sure the tests are completed – a task Dr. Allen said is much more complicated than it sounds.

    “Obtaining genetic tests in a clinical setting is complex and requires knowledge of the submission requirements,” he said. After working with health care providers to identify which patients are eligible, the navigator helps the patient fill out requisition forms and coordinates the submission of biopsy tissue samples to the appropriate genomic testing company.

    In this study, researchers compared how frequently patients with prostate cancer in a large health care system received genetic testing from the seven months prior to the arrival of a precision medicine navigator (PMN) to the seven months following the creation of that position. Of the 693 patients studied, 44.9% (n=311) were treated prior to the arrival of the PMN and 55.1% (n=382) were treated after the PMN began work. The median age in both groups was 68 years, and racial distributions were similar (60% white, 35.1% and 34% Black, 3.2% and 3.7% Asian/Pacific Islander and 1.3% and 2.1% Latino). There were no significant differences between the two groups in disease severity, type of insurance coverage or type of facility in which they were treated.

    Black patients seen by the PMN were six times more likely to receive testing than those not seen by a PMN. Following the arrival of the PMN, the proportion of Black patients referred for genomic testing rose from 19% to 58%. Genomic testing rates also rose for lower-income patients (from 20% to 64%), those on Medicare and Medicaid (from 20% to 68.5%) and people who were being treated at community hospitals (from 6% to 77%), after the introduction of the PMN.

    “We thought there would be some increase but did not expect the testing rates to grow so substantially,” Dr. Allen said. He also said that genomic testing results altered treatment plans for many patients who received them. “The most common way treatments were altered based on genomic testing results was in whether or not patients with intermediate risk disease were given hormone blocking therapy,” in which hormones are suppressed to stop them from fueling cancer cell growth.

    Dr. Allen said the next step for his team is to design a study that investigates whether the increased rates of genomic testing ultimately lead to better patient outcomes. “We theorize that if patients are treated differently based on this new genome-based risk stratification, outcomes will improve.”

    But making sure genomic testing is available to all patients who might benefit will be key to helping lessen racial disparities in prostate cancer going forward, he said. Precision medicine navigators are not funded through traditional business models, suggesting that novel funding mechanisms may need to be initiated to decrease disparities.

    “As precision medicine becomes more mainstream, it has the potential to alleviate disparities,” said Dr. Allen. “But if there are no measures taken to ensure access to these tools, we could just be maintaining or even worsening the health inequities that we have today.”

    ###

    See this study presented:

    • News Briefing: Monday, October 2, 11:00 a.m. Pacific time. Details here. Register here.
    • Scientific Presentation: Sunday, October 1, 4:55 p.m. Pacific time, San Diego Convention Center. Email [email protected] for access to the live stream or recording.
    • Abstract Title: A precision medicine navigator can mitigate inequities associated with utilization of genomic tests in Black men with prostate cancer (Abstract 122)

    Attribution to the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Meeting is requested in all coverage. View our meeting press kit at www.astro.org/annualmeetingpress.

    This study was funded by an anonymous donation to the University of Maryland Precision Radiation Oncology Initiative.

    ABOUT ASTRO

    The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) is the largest radiation oncology society in the world, with nearly 10,000 members who are physicians, nurses, biologists, physicists, radiation therapists, dosimetrists and other health care professionals who specialize in treating patients with radiation therapies. Radiation therapy contributes to 40% of global cancer cures, and more than a million Americans receive radiation treatments for cancer each year. For information on radiation therapy, visit RTAnswers.org. To learn more about ASTRO, visit our website and media center and follow us on social media.

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  • Embargoed Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center ASTRO 2023 Tip Sheet

    Embargoed Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center ASTRO 2023 Tip Sheet

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    Newswise — ALL INFORMATION EMBARGOED UNTIL 5 P.M. E.T. ON SEPT. 29, 2023

    Panel Discussion

    Getting it All Done – Strategies for Coping With Professional Burnout

    Crystal Seldon Taswell, MD, Sylvester radiation oncologist and researcher, will co-moderate a panel discussion on physician burnout within radiation oncology and medicine. The discussion, titled “Getting It All Done — Practical Strategies at All Career Stages,” will include background on the extent of the problem, as well as the curriculum gap for residents regarding time management, balancing clinical and research work and learning boundaries for work-life balance in an always-connected world. Other speakers will explain how they navigate work-life balance, pursue career interests, build core values into daily routines, mentor residents and attendings and juggle multiple challenges among their clinical and academic careers and personal lives.

    Panel 05 – ASTRO/SWRO Joint Session

    Date/time/location – Monday, Oct. 2, 8-9 am, Room 2

    == 

    Oral Presentations

    Testosterone Recovery and Prostate Cancer Outcomes

    Alan Dal Pra, MD, director of the Radiation Oncology Clinical Research Program at Sylvester, and collaborators will present a secondary analysis of the NRG/RTOG 0534 SPPORT phase 3 trial in which patients were treated with salvage radiotherapy and short-term androgen suppression for rising PSA levels after radical prostatectomy. The trial was conducted in the U.S., Canada and Israel from 2008 to 2015. It showed improved outcomes with salvage radiotherapy to the prostate bed, pelvic lymph nodes and androgen suppression as opposed to prostate bed radiotherapy alone.

    Dal Pra and his team assessed the testosterone measurements of more than 1,000 patients enrolled in the SPPORT trial to investigate the impact of testosterone recovery on clinical outcomes. This study represents the largest study of testosterone dynamics in patients treated with salvage radiation and androgen suppression. Although testosterone is known to “feed” the growth of prostate cancer cells, the authors showed that a faster normalization of testosterone levels after treatment does not worsen patients’ outcomes. The results have potential clinical implications for using androgen suppression drugs that can provide a faster testosterone recovery. They may also shed light on a possible benefit of testosterone replacement therapies for some prostate cancer patients who experience significant side effects due to low testosterone levels after cancer treatment.

    Abstract: 55528

    Abstract title: Impact of Testosterone Recovery on Clinical Outcomes of Patients Treated With Salvage Radiotherapy and Androgen Suppression: A Secondary Analysis of the NRG/RTOG SPPORT Phase 3 Trial.

    SS 28 – GU 4

    Date/time: Oct. 3, 5:35-5:42 pm, Room 6B

     

    Predicting Tumor Response During Radiation Therapy for Glioblastoma Patients 

    Distinguishing between true progression and pseudoprogression of tumors after radiotherapy (RT) is critically important for treating patients with glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive form of brain cancer. New research to be presented by Kaylie Cullison, Eric Mellon, MD, PhD, and their Sylvester colleagues identified differences in tumor growth behavior for true progression and pseudoprogression, and these volume changes during treatment may be early markers of treatment response. Next steps, the researchers say, include automating real-time tumor volume monitoring by using a deep-learning solution for volume delineation on daily treatment scans.

    Title: “Pattern Analysis of Daily Lesion Volume Trajectories for Early Prediction of Glioblastoma Progression During MR-Linac Radiotherapy”

    Date/time/location: Oct. 3, 1:05-1:12 pm, Room 29

     

    Is It True Progression or Pseudoprogression of Tumor Growth?

    Cullison, Mellon and Sylvester colleagues also will present results from another study looking at the predictive value of weekly delta-radiomic features extracted from MRI-guided linear accelerator radiation therapy for determining true progression or pseudoprogression of tumors in glioblastoma patients. They concluded that these features may help distinguish between real and pseudoprogression, thereby allowing physicians to adapt or intensify treatment in real time.

    Title: “Prognostic Value of Weekly Delta-Radiomics During MR-Linac Radiotherapy of Glioblastoma”

    Date/time/location: Oct. 3, 5:35-5:40 pm, Room 7

    ==

    Poster Presentations

    AI Model for Beam Angle Selection Similar to Human Choices in Proton Therapy

    Beam angles can have a major impact on treatment of brain cancers with proton therapy, but manual beam selection can be a time-consuming, cumbersome task. Robert Kaderka, PhD, Sylvester researcher and assistant professor of radiation oncology with UM’s Miller School of Medicine, and collaborators will lead a poster session showing that an AI model for beam selection was comparable to human choices for a small group of patients receiving proton therapy. Kaderka says the results serve as “proof-of-concept” for an expanded study currently underway that will add the prediction of couch angles into the AI model.      

    Title: “AI Beam Angle Prediction in Proton Therapy for Brain Patients”

    PQA 07

    Date/time/location: Tuesday, Oct. 3, 4-5 pm, Hall B2

     

    Spectroscopic MRI May Better Detect Glioblastoma Invasion

    Conventional MRI may not fully capture the extent of disease in patients undergoing chemoradiation for primary glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive brain cancer. New research led by Jonathan Bell, MD, PhD, senior resident, Department of Radiation Oncology at Sylvester and others suggests that whole-brain spectroscopic MRI (sMRI) provides better visualization of invasive tumor cells and the potential to improve target delineation compared with conventional MRI.

    Title: Spectroscopic MRI Detects Occult Glioblastoma Radiation During Chemoradiation

    PQA 02

    Date/time/location: Monday, Oct. 2, 10:45 am-Noon, Hall B2

     

    Novel Nipple-Preservation Approach for Breast Cancer Patients

    Sylvester physician-scientist Crystal Seldon Taswell, MD, and collaborating researchers will present long-term results from a phase I study of a new approach to nipple-preserving therapy for patients with early-stage breast cancer or ductal carcinoma in situ who are not candidates for nipple-sparing mastectomy. The approach, which uses delayed radiotherapy after breast surgery, resulted in 100% nipple preservation without compromise of local control, as well as excellent patient-reported satisfaction with the treatment. Seldon Taswell believes study results support further exploration of this nipple preservation technique with broader patient-inclusion criteria.

    Title: Delayed Nipple-Areola Complex Radiotherapy After Nipple-Sparing Mastectomy and Immediate Reconstruction for Invasive Breast Cancer or DCIS: Long-Term Results of a Phase I Study

    PQA O3

    Date/time/location: Monday, Oct. 2, 3-4 pm, Hall B2

     

    Preventing Kidney Disease, Cholesterol Dysfunction from Cancer Treatment

    Radiation therapy alone or combined with chemotherapy reduces cholesterol metabolism, or efflux, and causes chronic kidney disease, often leading to dialysis or kidney transplantation. Researchers from Sylvester and UM’s Miller School of Medicine, led by Anis Ahmad, PhD, will present results from their laboratory study showing that LXR agonist treatment not only prevents cholesterol dysregulation, but also protects vital kidney cells and prevents chemotherapy- or radiotherapy-induced kidney injury.   

    Title: Role of ATP Binding Cassette Subfamily A Member 1 (ABCA1) in Chemoradiotherapy-Induced Renal Injury

    PQA 04

    Date/time/location: Monday, Oct. 2, 5-6 pm, Hall B2

    == 

    Miscellaneous

    Sylvester Physician to Moderate Scientific Session on Patient Safety

    Laura Freedman, MD, director of radiation oncology at Sylvester’s Deerfield Beach location, will co-moderate a scientific session addressing patient safety. The session will cover various safety issues in radiation oncology, including terminating treatment during radiation therapy, minimizing patient delays via insurance preauthorization, optimizing workup pathways to reduce radiotherapy wait times and improving quality of care provided to cervical cancer patients.

    SS 33 – Patient Safety 2

    Date/time/location: Wednesday, Oct. 4, 10:30-11:45 am, Room 2

     

    # # #

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    Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center

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  • High cure rate, low toxicity maintained with shortened radiation treatment for intermediate risk prostate cancer, study finds

    High cure rate, low toxicity maintained with shortened radiation treatment for intermediate risk prostate cancer, study finds

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    Newswise — ARLINGTON, Va., September 29, 2023 — People with intermediate risk, localized prostate cancer can be treated as effectively using fewer and higher doses of radiation therapy delivered over five treatment sessions as they can with lower doses delivered over several weeks, a new phase III randomized trial suggests. The findings, which are the latest from a series of studies investigating the benefits of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for people diagnosed with prostate cancer, will be presented Monday at the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Meeting.

    The PACE B (Prostate Advances in Comparative Evidence) study found SBRT performed as well as standard treatment with moderately fractionated radiation for people whose prostate cancer had not spread, demonstrating a five-year 96% disease control rate, compared to 95% for conventional radiation.

    “The outcomes for patients in both study arms were better than we expected,” said principal investigator for the trial Nicholas van As, MD, a consultant clinical oncologist and Medical Director of The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and a professor at the Institute of Cancer Research in London. “To be able to sit with a patient and say, ‘We can treat you with a low toxicity treatment in five days, and your chance of keeping the cancer at bay for five years is 96%, it’s a positive conversation to have.”

    Prostate cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in the U.S., second only to skin cancer for male patients. There are approximately 288,300 new cases each year, with rates rising roughly 3% each year since 2014. “As patient volumes rise, substantially reducing the number of times a patient needs to visit a cancer treatment center frees up valuable resources, allowing our radiation oncology teams to treat more patients in less time,” said Prof. van As.

    Most prostate cancers are diagnosed before the cancer has grown beyond the prostate gland. The primary treatment options for localized prostate cancer include active surveillance, radiation therapy or surgery to remove the prostate gland.

    SBRT is an advanced form of radiation therapy that shrinks or destroys tumors with fewer, higher doses of radiation delivered in a small number of outpatient sessions. This approach uses advanced imaging and treatment planning techniques to deliver radiation with pinpoint accuracy, minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissue. Patients who choose radiation therapy for intermediate-risk prostate cancer typically receive treatment in 20 daily doses, or fractions, and up to 40, while SBRT is typically given in five or fewer outpatient treatment sessions.

    “There’s a lot of evidence now that prostate cancer actually responds better to a large fraction size given over a shorter period of time,” he said. “We’ve demonstrated now that the accelerated course is as effective as the protracted course.”

    PACE B was a multi-center, international phase III randomized controlled study to investigate whether SBRT was non-inferior to conventional radiation for treating people with intermediate risk, localized prostate cancer. Non-inferiority was measured by whether patients remained free of biochemical clinical failure (BCF), defined as an increase in PSA levels, distant metastases or other evidence the cancer was returning, or death from prostate cancer.

    Drawing from 38 centers across the UK and Canada, PACE B researchers enrolled 874 people who preferred radiation treatment or were unsuitable for surgery. The median age was 69.8 years old.

    Patients were randomly assigned to receive either SBRT (n=443) consisting of five fractions over one to two weeks (36.25 Gy total dose), or standard radiation (n=441) consisting of 39 fractions over 7.5 weeks (78 Gy) or 20 fractions over four weeks (62 Gy). None of the patients received hormonal therapy. Median follow-up was 73.1 months.

    Five years after treatment, people treated with SBRT had a BCF-event-free rate of 95.7% (93.2% – 97.3%), compared to 94.6% (91.9% – 96.4%) for those treated with conventional radiation, demonstrating that SBRT was non-inferior to CRT (90% CI, p-value for non-inferiority=0.007).

    Side effects were low in both groups, and not significantly different between treatment arms. At five years post-treatment, 5.5% of patients who received SBRT experienced grade 2 or higher side effects affecting the genital or urinary organs, compared to 3.2% in the conventional group (p=0.14). Only one person in each arm of the study experienced grade 2 or higher gastrointestinal side effects (p=0.99).

    “Standard radiation treatment is already highly effective and is very well tolerated in people with localized prostate cancer,” Prof. van As said. “But for a healthcare system and for patients, to have this treatment delivered just as effectively in five days as opposed to four weeks has huge implications.”

    Though he expected SBRT to be non-inferior to conventional radiation, Prof. van As said he was surprised at the level of disease control they were able to demonstrate. He attributed the high rates to improvements in image-guidance and technologies to deliver radiation in recent years.

    “One of the things this study demonstrated is that outcomes of high-quality radiation therapy are outstanding,” he said. “We’ve become much more precise at tracking and reaching the targets. We’re able to put high doses of radiation in the right place and avoid putting high doses in areas we don’t want it.”

    He cautioned the results could not be extrapolated to all people with prostate cancer. “Ninety percent of our patients were intermediate risk, but they were the better end of intermediate risk,” he said. “These results do not apply to people with higher-risk cancer.”

    Prof. van As’ team is also examining the use of SBRT for patients with higher risk disease. The PACE trials (NCT01584258) include three studies investigating the benefits of SBRT for people with localized prostate cancer. PACE A compared patient’s quality of life following SBRT or prostate surgery, finding fewer urinary and sexual side effects from SBRT but a higher risk for minor bowel problems. PACE C, which has completed accrual, investigates how well SBRT works for people with intermediate and high-risk prostate cancer who are also being treated with hormone therapy.

    In the meantime, Prof. van As said, people with intermediate risk prostate cancer should be given the option of SBRT as an alternative to longer courses of radiation or prostate surgery.

    ###

    Attribution to the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Meeting is requested in all coverage.

    See this study presented:

    • News Briefing: Tuesday, October 3, 9:00 a.m. Pacific time. Details here. Register here.
    • Scientific Presentation: Plenary session, Monday, October 2, 2023, 2:10 p.m. Pacific time, San Diego Convention Center. Email [email protected] for access to the live stream or recording.
    • Abstract Title: 5-Year Outcomes from PACE B: An International Phase III Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (SBRT) vs. Conventionally Fractionated or Moderately Hypofractionated External Beam Radiotherapy for Localized Prostate Cancer (LBA 03)

    View the press kit for the 2023 ASTRO Annual Meeting at www.astro.org/annualmeetingpress.

    ABOUT ASTRO

    The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) is the largest radiation oncology society in the world, with nearly 10,000 members who are physicians, nurses, biologists, physicists, radiation therapists, dosimetrists and other health care professionals who specialize in treating patients with radiation therapies. Radiation therapy contributes to 40% of global cancer cures, and more than a million Americans receive radiation treatments for cancer each year. For information on radiation therapy, visit RTAnswers.org. To learn more about ASTRO, visit our website and media center and follow us on social media.

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  • Latest Insights: Men’s Hair Loss

    Latest Insights: Men’s Hair Loss

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    Newswise — A receding hairline, a total loss of hair from the crown, and ultimately, the classical horseshoe-shaped pattern of baldness: Previous research into male pattern hair loss, also termed androgenetic alopecia, has implicated multiple common genetic variants. Human geneticists from the University Hospital of Bonn (UKB) and by the Transdisciplinary Research Unit “Life & Health” of the University of Bonn have now performed a systematic investigation of the extent to which rare genetic variants may also contribute to this disorder. For this purpose, they analyzed the genetic sequences of 72,469 male participants from the UK Biobank project. The analyses identified five significantly associated genes, and further corroborated genes implicated in previous research. The results have now been published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature Communications.

    Male-pattern hair loss is the most common form of hair loss in men, and is largely attributable to hereditary factors. Current treatment options and risk prediction are suboptimal, thus necessitating research into the genetic underpinnings of the condition. To date, studies worldwide have focused primarily on common genetic variants, and have implicated more than 350 genetic loci, in particular the androgen receptor gene, which is located on the maternally inherited X chromosome. In contrast, the contribution to this common condition of rare genetic variants has traditionally been assumed to be low. However, systematic analyses of rare variants have been lacking. “Such analyses are more challenging as they require large cohorts, and the genetic sequences must be captured base by base, e.g., through genome or exome sequencing of affected individuals,” explained first author Sabrina Henne, who is a doctoral student at the Institute of Human Genetics at the UKB and the University of Bonn. The statistical challenge lies in the fact that these rare genetic variants may be carried by very few, or even single, individuals. “That is why we apply gene-based analyses that first collapse variants on the basis of the genes in which they are located,” explained corresponding author PD Dr. Stefanie Heilmann-Heimbach, who is a research group leader at the Institute of Human Genetics at the UKB at the University of Bonn. Among other methods, the Bonn researchers used a type of sequence kernel association test (SKAT), which is a popular method for detecting associations with rare variants, as well as GenRisk, which is a method developed at the Institute of Genomic Statistics and Bioinformatics (IGSB) at the UKB and the University of Bonn.

    Possible relevance of rare variants in male-pattern hair loss

    The research involved the analysis of genetic sequences from 72,469 male UK Biobank participants. Within this extensive data set, Bonn geneticists, together with researchers from the IGSB and the Center for Human Genetics at the University Hospital Marburg, examined rare gene variants that occur in less than one percent of the population. Using modern bioinformatic and statistical methods, they found associations between male-pattern hair loss and rare genetic variants in the following five genes: EDA2R, WNT10A, HEPH, CEPT1, and EIF3F.

    Prior to the analyses, EDA2R and WNT10A were already considered candidate genes, as based on previous analyses of common variants. “Our study provides further evidence that these two genes play a role, and that this occurs through both common and rare variants,” explained Dr. Stefanie Heilmann-Heimbach. Similarly, HEPH is located in a genetic region that has already been implicated by common variants, namely the EDA2R/Androgen receptor, which is a region that has consistently shown the strongest association with male-pattern hair loss in past association studies. “However, HEPH itself has never been considered as a candidate gene. Our study suggests that it may also play a role,” explained Sabrina Henne. “The genes CEPT1 and EIF3F are located in genetic regions that have not yet been associated with male-pattern hair loss. They are thus entirely new candidate genes, and we hypothesize that rare variants within these genes contribute to the genetic predisposition. HEPH, CEPT1, and EIF3F represent highly plausible new candidate genes, given their previously described role in hair development and growth.” Furthermore, the results of the study suggest that genes that are known to cause rare inherited diseases affecting both skin and hair (such as the ectodermal dysplasias) may also play a role in the development of male-pattern hair loss. The researchers hope that the puzzle pieces they have discovered will improve understanding of the causes of hair loss, and thus facilitate reliable risk prediction and improved treatment strategies.

    The research was supported by funding from the Medical Faculty of the University of Bonn. Prof. Dr. Markus Nöthen, Director of the Institute of Human Genetics at UKB and co-author of the study, is a member of the Transdisciplinary Research Area (TRA) “Life and Health” at the University of Bonn. The publication costs in open access format were funded by the DEAL project of the University of Bonn.

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    Universitatsklinikum Bonn

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  • UNCW Experts Available to Discuss Breakthrough Research That Could Help Prostate Cancer Patients

    UNCW Experts Available to Discuss Breakthrough Research That Could Help Prostate Cancer Patients

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    Hook: September is National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, a time to educate, create awareness, and provide information about screening and early detection. For patients who have been diagnosed with this deadly type of cancer, the second leading cause of death in men behind lung cancer, there is an urgency for finding successful treatments and cures.

    Promising Cancer Treatment Research at UNCW: Researchers at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, funded by the National Institutes of Health National Cancer Institute, are finding new ways to target prostate cancer cells.

    UNCW College of Science and Engineering Faculty Dr. Sridhar Varadarajan, chemistry and biochemistry, and Dr. Art Frampton, biology and marine biology, are collaborating at UNCW to develop compounds that can successfully seek and destroy cancerous prostate cells while leaving healthy cells untouched. 

    Unlike other pharmaceutical treatments currently available that harm both healthy and cancerous cells, like chemotherapy, this research breakthrough could lead to reduced side effects for cancer patients, as well as mitigate risks for secondary cancers.

    Their research is partly based on the success of their previous research that targeted breast cancer cells.

    Quotes: 

    Dr. Sridhar Varajaradan:  “All of us know someone who has had cancer or gone through chemotherapy and how debilitating it can be. That puts a sense of urgency to what we are doing. There is always a human who is waiting for successful therapy, so time is of the essence. I always think about it when we do this research. That is really what keeps us going and what drives us.”

    “Every cancer is really a different disease. It isn’t a one size fits all. What we learned from our breast cancer treatment research is that there are receptors within breast cancer cells that grab our compound and drag it to the nucleus where they can deliver lethal damage to the DNA in the cancer cells. We found those same receptors are also present in prostate cancer cells. We have applied this approach to brain cancer cells with promising results, too.”

    Dr. Art Frampton: “Our goal is to come up with a more targeted therapy different from the current ‘sledgehammer approach’ to cancer treatment that causes side effects and kills healthy cells. We are focused on developing a very selective compound that kills only cancer cells called ‘selective toxicity.’ The patient would take this compound, which would seek out cancer cells but leave healthy cells alone.”

    Additional Notes:

    The research currently involves 14 UNCW undergraduate and PhD students who are primarily female. 

    The grant is $447,000 for three years from the National Cancer Institute, the federal government’s principal agency for cancer research and the largest funder of cancer research in the world.

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    University of North Carolina at Wilmington

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  • Desai Sethi Urology Institute Researcher Finds “Sneaky Testosterone” Might Signal Worse Outcomes for Men with Prostate Cancer

    Desai Sethi Urology Institute Researcher Finds “Sneaky Testosterone” Might Signal Worse Outcomes for Men with Prostate Cancer

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    BYLINE: Lisette Hilton

    Newswise — Drawing blood from the arms of prostate cancer patients to assess for testosterone is not generally useful for determining risk of outcomes after radical prostatectomy and might underreport levels of testosterone surrounding the prostate, according to a study by Nima Sharifi, M.D., scientific director of the Desai Sethi Urology Institute and a researcher at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

    Findings from the newly published study in The Journal of Clinical Investigation suggest a large proportion of men have testosterone concentrations that are much higher in and around the prostate than traditional blood draws suggest. And this elevated exposure near the prostate increases the risk of poor outcomes after surgical removal of the prostate gland.

    “I describe this as ‘sneaky testosterone.’ It’s sneaky because we don’t see it — we don’t appreciate it — just by looking at general blood,” said Dr. Sharifi, who conducted much of this research while at Cleveland Clinic, before joining Desai Sethi Urology Institute earlier this year.

    The general assumption today is that clinicians can assess the prostate’s testosterone exposure by measuring the level with blood drawn from the arm. High testosterone levels could have implications on prostate cancer development and progression. 

    Significant Differences in Testosterone Concentration

    In this first-of-its-kind study, Miller School and Cleveland Clinic researchers assessed 266 men with prostate cancer undergoing radical prostatectomies between 2014 and 2021. They studied not only general blood and prostate tissue specimens but also vessels surrounding the prostate.

    Dr. Sharifi and colleagues found that 20% of the men had testosterone concentrations in vessels around the prostate that were twice as high as in the blood from their arms, with 5% of the men having 10 times the concentration in vessels surrounding the prostate.

    “This suggests that some men have a short circuit going from gonadal circulation to the prostate. Most importantly, men who had this sneaky testosterone physiology had worse long-term outcomes after they had surgery for prostate cancer,” Dr. Sharifi said.

    Associations with Varioceles

    There are other potential implications of the research, including in the area of infertility, he said.

    “This sneaky testosterone physiology is probably common to varicoceles, a condition where the forward flow of the blood from the testes is impeded and this effectively creates back flow. Varicoceles is known to be associated with infertility,” Dr. Sharifi said. “Our study tells us that there may be other associations of varicoceles, potentially directly linking varicoceles to an aggressive form of prostate cancer.”

    The identification of men with sneaky testosterone physiology adds new information to consider in the prognoses of men with prostate cancer and has broad implications for assessing risk in other diseases of the prostate, according to study author Eric A. Klein, M.D., emeritus chair of Cleveland Clinic’s Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute.

    “For years, testosterone, T, and its derivative, dihydrotestosterone, DHT, have been known to affect prostate development and drive prostate cancer. However, peripheral blood T levels don’t correlate with prostate cancer risk or severity,” Dr. Klein said. “This study suggests this might be because some men have veins that directly link the prostate to the testes, enabling higher T and DHT levels in the prostate, potentially leading to aggressive tumors. These venous shunts bypass peripheral circulation, meaning arm vein blood samples do not reflect T and DHT exposure to the prostate.

    “This and future studies could lead to alternative treatment strategies for urological diseases that are impacted by sneaky testosterone physiology,” he said.

    Mohammad Alyamani, Ph.D., research assistant professor at the Miller School, is first author on this study.

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    University of Miami Health System, Miller School of Medicine

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  • Higher Prostate Cancer Rates Topic of Expert Panel

    Higher Prostate Cancer Rates Topic of Expert Panel

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    September is prostate cancer awareness month, so the American College of Surgeons is teaming up with their urologist colleagues to promote better prevention for men at risk for this growing category of cases. A recent report from the American Cancer Society detailed the alarming increase in rates of late-diagnosed cases. With that in mind, this panel will address proper screening and prevention and discuss the higher risks for minority groups, reluctance to discuss the issue, and advice for both patients and practitioners.

     

    What: Expert panel from the American College of Surgeons will address proper screening and prevention of prostate cancer

    When: September 11, 2023, at 12 PM EDT

    Who: Panelists to be announced

    Where: Newswise Live Events Zoom Room (link will be given once you register)

    Details:

    A recent report from the American Cancer Society detailed the alarming increase in rates of late-diagnosed cases of prostate cancer. With Prostate Cancer Awareness month in September, this panel will address proper screening and prevention and discuss the higher risks for minority groups, reluctance to discuss the issue, and advice for both patients and practitioners.

    Media register to attend and/or receive transcript and video

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    Newswise

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  • MRI scans improve prostate cancer diagnosis in screening trial

    MRI scans improve prostate cancer diagnosis in screening trial

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    Newswise — Using MRI as a screening test alongside PSA density allowed detection of cancers that would have been missed by the blood test alone, according to new research from UCL, UCLH and King’s College London.

    The REIMAGINE study, published today in BMJ Oncology, is the first study to use MRI scans with prostate specific antigen (PSA) density to assess the need for further standard NHS tests. Of the 29 participants found to have serious prostate cancer, 15 had a ‘low’ PSA score that would have meant they were not referred for further investigation under the current system.

    Currently, men over 50 in the UK can ask for a PSA test if they are experiencing symptoms or are concerned about prostate cancer. Previous screening studies have used a PSA level of 3ng/ml or above as the benchmark for performing additional tests to look for prostate cancer, such as a biopsy.

    Though previous research found that the combination of a PSA test and/or digital rectal examination, followed by a biopsy if disease is suspected, helped to reduce prostate cancer mortality by 20% after 16 years, this approach has also been linked to overdiagnosis and overtreatment of lower risk cancers.

    In recent years, the introduction of MRI as a first step in investigating men at higher risk of prostate cancer has spared one in four men from an unnecessary biopsy, which is invasive and can lead to complications.

    It is hoped that using MRI as a screening tool that is offered to men without them needing to ask for it could further reduce prostate cancer mortality and overtreatment.

    For this study, researchers invited men aged 50 to 75 to have a screening MRI and PSA test. Of the 303 men who completed both tests, 48 (16%) had a positive screening MRI that indicated there might be cancer, despite only having a median PSA density result of 1.2 ng/ml1. 32 of these men had lower PSA levels than the current screening benchmark of 3ng/ml, meaning they would not have been referred for further investigation by the PSA test currently in use.

    After NHS assessment, 29 men (9.6%) were diagnosed with cancer that required treatment, 15 of whom had serious cancer and a PSA of less than 3ng/ml. Three men (1%) were diagnosed with low-risk cancer that did not require treatment.

    Professor Caroline Moore (UCL Surgical & Interventional Science and consultant surgeon at UCLH), chief investigator of the study and NIHR Research Professor, said: “The thought that over half the men with clinically significant cancer had a PSA less than 3 ng/ml and would have been reassured that they didn’t have cancer by a PSA test alone is a sobering one and reiterates the need to consider a new approach to prostate cancer screening. Our results give an early indication that MRI could offer a more reliable method of detecting potentially serious cancers early, with the added benefit that less than one per cent of participants were ‘over-diagnosed’ with low-risk disease. More studies in larger groups are needed to assess this further.”

    Recruitment for the trial also indicated that black men responded to the screening invitation at one fifth the rate of white men, something the authors say will need to be addressed in future research.

    Saran Green, an author of the study from King’s College London, said: “One in four black men will get prostate cancer during their lifetime, which is double the number of men from other ethnicities. Given this elevated risk, and the fact that black men were five times less likely to sign up for the REIMAGINE trial than white men, it will be crucial that any national screening programme includes strategies to reach black men and encourage more of them to come forward for testing.”

    The next step towards a national prostate cancer screening programme is already underway, with the LIMIT trial being conducted with a much larger number of participants. The trial will also attempt to recruit more black men, including through mobile ‘scan in a van’ initiatives designed to visit communities less likely to come forward for testing in response to a GP invitation.

    If LIMIT is successful, a national-level trial would also be required before prostate cancer screening becomes standard clinical practice.

    Professor Mark Emberton (UCL Surgical & Interventional Science and consultant urologist at UCLH), senior author of the study, said: “The UK prostate cancer mortality rate is twice as high as in countries like the US or Spain because our levels of testing are much lower than other countries. Given how treatable prostate cancer is when caught early, I’m confident that a national screening programme will reduce the UK’s prostate cancer mortality rate significantly. There is a lot of work to be done to get us to that point, but I believe this will be possible within the next five to ten years.”

    This research was supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research UCLH Biomedical Research Centre, the Medical Research Council (MRC) and Cancer Research UK (CRUK).

    Notes to Editors:

    1 PSA density calculates the amount of PSA (ng/ml) for the size of the prostate. A PSA density threshold of 0.12ng/ml2 can be used in men with an equivocal MRI scan to help decide on further testing, including biopsy, in men referred to an NHS pathway for prostate cancer investigations.

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    University College London

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  • Francis Medical Receives U.S. FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for Vanquish Minimally Invasive Prostate Cancer Therapy

    Francis Medical Receives U.S. FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for Vanquish Minimally Invasive Prostate Cancer Therapy

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    Newswise — MINNEAPOLIS , Aug. 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Francis Medical, Inc., a privately held medical device company developing an innovative and proprietary water vapor ablation therapy for the treatment of prostate, kidney and bladder cancer, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Device Designation for its Vanquish minimally invasive water vapor ablation therapy.

    Breakthrough Device Designation expedites the review of innovative technologies that provide for more effective treatment or diagnosis of life-threatening or irreversibly debilitating diseases or conditions. To qualify for a Breakthrough Device Designation, a device technology must show that it has the potential to provide a more effective treatment than current standards of care. The goal of the program is to help patients have more timely access to these medical devices by expediting their development, assessment and review.

    As the second most common cancer in U.S. men, the American Cancer Society estimates one in eight American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime. Prostate cancer is a serious disease often treated with therapies that cause complications, such as urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction. Francis Medical’s Vanquish water vapor technology applies the thermal energy stored in a few drops of sterile water to deliver targeted treatments to the cancerous tissue through a simple transurethral procedure. The therapy is designed to ablate cancer cells while protecting surrounding structures, lessening the likelihood of life-altering side effects common with other prostate cancer treatments.

    “The goal of Francis Medical is to become the first line therapy of choice for patients with prostate cancer,” said Michael Kujak, Francis Medical president and chief executive officer. “We are excited that the FDA has recognized the potential of our technology to be a breakthrough for patients who today face the difficult choice between addressing their cancer and avoiding the debilitating morbidities often associated with current standards of care.” 

    The company is currently in the process of initiating their VAPOR 2 pivotal study in support of an FDA submission for U.S. market clearance. The VAPOR 2 study will treat 235 patients with localized, intermediate-risk prostate cancer at up to 30 centers in the U.S. Further information on the VAPOR 2 clinical study can be found at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT05683691).

    About Francis Medical:

    Francis Medical is committed to developing urological cancer treatments that are tough on cancer and gentle on patients, with a compassionate belief that minimally invasive therapies can effectively treat cancerous tissue. The company’s foundation is a tribute to and legacy of the inventor’s father, Francis Hoey, who endured prostate cancer treatments that had harsh implications on his everyday living before the disease took his life in 1991. Unfortunately, current prostate cancer treatments are not much different from what Francis Hoey encountered, with the typical side effects including urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction. In contrast, water vapor technology applies the thermal energy stored in sterile water vapor to cancerous tissue via a simple transurethral procedure, potentially minimizing life-altering side effects. For more information on Francis Medical, visit www.francismedical.com or call (763) 951-0370.

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    Francis Medical

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  • Peoria men arrested for firearm and marijuana charges – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

    Peoria men arrested for firearm and marijuana charges – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

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    PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD)– A search warrant led to two Peoria men being arrested early Tuesday evening.

    According to a Peoria police press release, members of the Special Investigations Division (SID) and SWAT searched a home around 4:38 p.m. near the 4000 block of North Grand Boulevard.

    The home is associated with illegal cannabis dealing.

    Officers entered the home and seized a large amount of cannabis, drug packaging and equipment, currency, two firearms, and ammo.

    The two men in the home, 21-year-old Matthew Buford and 24-year-old Kobe Johnson, were taken into custody for interviewing.

    Buford has been arrested for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, possession of a firearm without a valid FOID card, unlawful possession with intent to deliver, and unlawful possession of cannabis.

    Original Author Link click here to read complete story..

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    MMP News Author

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  • Social isolation linked to reduced bone quality in males, mouse study finds

    Social isolation linked to reduced bone quality in males, mouse study finds

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    Newswise — Social isolation may negatively impact bone health, suggests a study conducted in mice being presented Sunday at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, Ill.

    “Social isolation is a potent form of psychosocial stress and is a growing public health concern, particularly among older adults,” said lead researcher Rebecca Mountain, Ph.D., of MaineHealth Institute for Research in Scarborough, Maine. “Even prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has significantly increased the prevalence of isolation and loneliness, researchers have been concerned about a rising ‘epidemic of loneliness.’”

    Mountain noted that social isolation is associated with increased risk for many health conditions in people, including mental health disorders, as well as higher overall rates of illness and death.

    “Previous clinical research has demonstrated that psychosocial stressors, and subsequent mental health disorders, are major risk factors for osteoporosis and fracture, which disproportionally affect older adults,” Mountain said. “The effects of social isolation on bone, however, have not been thoroughly investigated.”

    In the new study, researchers exposed adult mice to either social isolation (one mouse per cage) or grouped housing (four mice per cage) for four weeks. They found that social isolation caused significant reductions in bone quality, including reduced bone mineral density, in male, but not female mice.

    “Overall, our data suggest that social isolation has a dramatic negative effect on bone in male mice, but it may operate through different mechanisms or in a different time frame in female mice,” Mountain said. “Future research is needed to understand how these findings translate to human populations.”

    In addition to exploring the effects of social isolation in human datasets, her research team will also investigate the mechanisms of how social isolation contributes to bone loss using mouse models.

    “Our work provides critical insight into the effects of isolation on bone and has key clinical implications as we grapple with the long-term health impacts of the rise in social isolation related to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Mountain said

    # # #

    Endocrinologists are at the core of solving the most pressing health problems of our time, from diabetes and obesity to infertility, bone health, and hormone-related cancers. The Endocrine Society is the world’s oldest and largest organization of scientists devoted to hormone research and physicians who care for people with hormone-related conditions.

    The Society has more than 18,000 members, including scientists, physicians, educators, nurses and students in 122 countries. To learn more about the Society and the field of endocrinology, visit our site at www.endocrine.org. Follow us on Twitter at @TheEndoSociety and @EndoMedia.

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    Endocrine Society

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  • Target found for prostate cancer resistant to hormone therapy

    Target found for prostate cancer resistant to hormone therapy

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    Newswise — Prostate cancer is the most-commonly diagnosed malignancy and the second leading cause of cancer death among men in the United States. In its ever-indelicate world, the stubborn disease can continue to grow even when the amount of testosterone in the body is reduced to very low levels, thus earning the clumsy name: castrate-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). It poses a major clinical challenge as a protein called the androgen receptor (AR) remains behind as a critical player in cancer, changing its behavior in CRPCs. 

    Androgen-deprivation therapy, which is a treatment that reduces the levels of male hormones, is the first-line treatment for locally advanced or metastatic prostate cancer. Despite initial responses to the therapy, nearly all patients eventually develop CRPC within a few years. It is now well recognized that CRPC continues to be dependent on AR signaling. 

    “Understanding the triggers that cause changes in AR’s activity is important for developing better treatments for CRPCs,” said Ping Yi, assistant professor of biology and biochemistry, who is leading a team investigating CRPC. Yi’s research is published in PNAS. Her research team includes Ramesh Singh, Lance Lumahan and Hong Shen, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine; and Steven Nguyen, Department of Biology and Biochemistry, Center for Nuclear Receptors and Cell Signaling, University of Houston. 

    “We found a specific chemical modification that occurs on the AR protein in certain conditions where the levels of male hormones are reduced to castration conditions. This modification involves another protein called TRAF4, which is frequently overexpressed in advanced prostate cancers. We demonstrated that overexpression of TRAF4 leads to the conversion of androgen-sensitive prostate cancer cells into castration-resistant cells, both in lab experiments and in live samples,” said Yi. “We also found that the TRAF4 protein level is higher in androgen-insensitive lymph node carcinoma cells of the prostate.” 

    The findings also suggest that TRAF4 is associated with promoting the spread of cancer to other parts of the body. For this research Yi examined cells of patients with metastatic cancer who had previously undergone androgen-deprivation therapy. The researchers also observed that the TRAF4 protein is higher in cancer cells that are no longer responsive to androgens compared to cells that still respond to androgens. 

    The researchers believe that their findings provide an important basis for identifying a group of CRPC patients who might respond well to a treatment potentially targeting the specific molecular changes caused by the AR modification, providing a possible treatment option for this group of patients. 

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    University of Houston

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  • Study reveals how treatment-resistant prostate cancer provides its own hormonal fuel

    Study reveals how treatment-resistant prostate cancer provides its own hormonal fuel

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    BYLINE: Julia Evangelou Strait

    Newswise — A new study in mice, led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, explains how prostate cancer senses a drop in testosterone levels due to common anti-hormone therapy and then begins making cholesterol — a necessary precursor to testosterone — to generate its own testosterone to fuel tumor growth. The study also points to a possible drug combination that may stop the cancer from feeding its own growth.

    Healthy prostate cells do not produce testosterone, so the research provides long-sought answers to questions about how prostate cancer cells adapt to testosterone-deprivation therapy, a common therapeutic option, by developing an ability to supply their own hormonal fuel. Further, the research reveals that treating these aggressive prostate tumors with inhibitors that block aspects of the hormonal fuel supply chain slows tumor growth in mice. These findings suggest a novel treatment strategy for prostate cancer that has become resistant to the common anti-testosterone therapy abiraterone.

    The study appears June 9 in the journal Nature Communications.

    The study also may help explain why Black men are at higher risk of developing prostate cancer and tend to develop more aggressive forms of the cancer than white men of European ancestry.

    “We’ve known for a long time that androgens, or male hormones such as testosterone, fuel prostate tumors — and we have drugs to treat prostate cancer that block the body’s ability to make testosterone,” said senior author Nupam Mahajan, PhD, a professor of surgery in the Division of Urologic Surgery. “But after about a year, these drugs stop working, and the androgen levels rise again. Where is this androgen coming from? Turns out, prostate cancer cells have learned a new trick; they start producing more cholesterol, which they divert to generate their own androgen. Our study shows how to block this, revealing a possible drug combination that could stop prostate cancer from fueling its own growth.”

    Mahajan is also a research member of Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine.

    The study demonstrated how the prostate cancer cells first detect that androgen levels have dropped. The researchers found that a key protein called SREBF1, when bound to the androgen receptor, acts as an androgen sensor. When androgen levels are low, this protein enters the cancer cell nucleus, recruits an enzyme, GCN5, to modify proteins called histones through a process called acetylation. This epigenetic modification activates many genes important for manufacturing cholesterol and lipids. According to Mahajan, these two molecular events allow the cells to make enormous amounts of cholesterol, a necessary precursor for testosterone.

    “The cancer cells essentially load up the tumor with cholesterol and use that cholesterol to churn out more testosterone,” Mahajan said. “That’s the trick. They overload the prostate with cholesterol, and the normal systems for making androgen from cholesterol just work as they typically would, making drugs like abiraterone ineffective.”

    Mahajan and his colleagues experimented with two inhibitors that block the molecular events that they found to be responsible for the massive cholesterol manufacturing. They used these inhibitors to treat mice that had prostate tumors that had been sampled from human patients.

    One drug is afatinib, an EGFR inhibitor approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat certain types of lung cancer. The second drug is a GCN5 inhibitor. GCN5 inhibitors have not yet made it into clinical trials, but Mahajan said there is great interest in developing this class of drugs, which could have an effect on gene regulation, cell growth and inflammation. Mice treated with a combination of these two inhibitors showed large reductions in tumor volume compared with mice treated with placebo or the anti-testosterone drug abiraterone alone.

    The study also suggests that the cholesterol abundance in aggressive prostate cancer may shed light on racial disparities seen in this tumor type. The researchers found evidence that the lipid profile of prostate cancer in African American men resembles the lipid profile of treatment-resistant prostate cancer identified in this study. In other words, for reasons that remain unclear, African American men with prostate cancer appear to be more prone to having an abundance of cholesterol in their tumors than white men with the same tumor type.

    “This is preliminary data, so we need to verify it in larger studies,” Mahajan said. “But our study suggests that this cholesterol profile may play an important role in African American patients with prostate cancer. African American men are at higher risk of prostate cancer, are diagnosed at earlier ages, and now we see that the kinds of cholesterol molecules that are generated in their cancers are similar to what we see in this overactive cholesterol manufacturing pathway. Their cancers are more likely to already be making these lipids, even before beginning anti-testosterone treatment.”

    “We are hopeful this study will provide a solid rationale for undertaking a clinical trial of these two inhibitors combined — to block this cholesterol pathway — in patients with treatment-resistant prostate cancer,” Mahajan added.

     

    ###

    Nguyen T, Sridaran D, Chouhan S, Weimholt C, Wilson A, Luo J, Li T, Koomen J, Fang B, Putluri N, Sreekumar A, Feng FY, Mahajan K, Mahajan NP. Histone H2A Lys130 acetylation epigenetically regulates androgen production in prostate cancer. Nature Communications. June 9, 2023.

    This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), grant numbers 1R01CA208258, 5R01CA227025, 1R01CA273054, NCATS UL1 TR000448, NIGMS P41 GM103422, NCI P30 CA091842, P30 CA076292 and P30 CA125123; the Prostate Cancer Foundation, grant number 17CHAL06; a Department of Defense award, number PC200201; the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, grant number RP210227; and the Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center.

    About Washington University School of Medicine

    WashU Medicine is a global leader in academic medicine, including biomedical research, patient care and educational programs with 2,800 faculty. Its National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding portfolio is the third largest among U.S. medical schools, has grown 52% in the last six years, and, together with institutional investment, WashU Medicine commits well over $1 billion annually to basic and clinical research innovation and training. Its faculty practice is consistently within the top five in the country, with more than 1,800 faculty physicians practicing at 65 locations and who are also the medical staffs of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals of BJC HealthCare. WashU Medicine has a storied history in MD/PhD training, recently dedicated $100 million to scholarships and curriculum renewal for its medical students, and is home to top-notch training programs in every medical subspecialty as well as physical therapy, occupational therapy, and audiology and communications sciences.

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    Washington University in St. Louis

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  • Gently Tossed Football From Patrick Mahomes Tears Straight Through Biden’s Chest

    Gently Tossed Football From Patrick Mahomes Tears Straight Through Biden’s Chest

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  • Salud masculina: un experto de Mayo Clinic Healthcare comparte los síntomas principales sobre los que hay que actuar

    Salud masculina: un experto de Mayo Clinic Healthcare comparte los síntomas principales sobre los que hay que actuar

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    LONDRES — A medida que los hombres envejecen, incluso aquellos acostumbrados a una buena salud pueden desarrollar síntomas que afecten su calidad de vida y es importante que se los mencionen a sus médicos. Vikas Mehta, Licenciado en Medicina y Cirugía, un médico de Mayo Clinic Healthcare en Londres, describe varios signos físicos que vale la pena controlar.

    “Los hombres generalmente no se sienten cómodos contándoles a otras personas sobre los síntomas que afectan sus vidas”, dice el Dr. Mehta, un miembro del Colegio Real de Médicos de Cabecera y de la Facultad de Salud Sexual y Reproductiva del Colegio Real de Obstetras y Ginecólogos. “A menudo, estás afecciones son tratables”.

    Por ejemplo:

    Síntomas urológicos y salud sexual:

    • La necesidad de orinar a menudo puede ser una señal de problemas en la próstata o la vejiga, o de diabetes. La micción difícil o dolorosa también se debería controlar.
    • La disfunción eréctil, es decir, la dificultad para tener o mantener una erección, se puede tratar y es una buena razón para hacerse exámenes de detección cardíacos. El Dr. Mehta afirma: “Si existen problemas con los vasos sanguíneos en una parte del cuerpo, es muy posible que los haya en otras partes”.
    • Realizarse un examen testicular para buscar bultos es una buena idea para aquellos hombres que nunca se hicieron uno. “A veces, en los exámenes de detección descubrimos que nadie más ha observado los órganos sexuales de algunos hombres además de sus parejas, por lo que encontramos muchos problemas o anormalidades”, dice el Dr. Mehta.

    Salud mental:

    • “Para mí, la salud mental es importante” y los hombres deben prestarle atención, expresa el Dr. Mehta, y señala que Mayo Clinic Healthcare se encuentra en un área conocida por profesiones de alto estrés, como la actividad bancaria y el derecho. “Es muy importante saber dónde y cuando buscar ayuda”.

    Salud musculoesquelética:

    • ¿Le toma más tiempo recuperarse de las heridas? Un descenso en la capacidad de hacer ejercicio a menudo se relaciona con problemas musculoesqueléticos como el desgaste muscular y problemas inflamatorios.
    • Hacer ejercicio puede ayudar a aliviar el estrés. Para los hombres acostumbrados a la actividad física, no poder correr o hacer otros ejercicios debido a las afecciones musculoesqueléticas puede afectar su salud mental, afirma el Dr. Mehta.
    • Es posible justificar exámenes de detección de osteoartritis y enfermedades reumatoides como gota, artritis psoriásica y artritis reumatoide, especialmente si existen antecedentes familiares.

    Salud respiratoria:

    • Si descubre que se fatiga o se queda sin aliento al hacer ejercicio o incluso al caminar, o si tiene tos crónica, es momento de controlarse. El Dr. Mehta dice: “Incluso si solo se despierta a la mañana con tos, no debería pasar todos los días”. Las afecciones respiratorias tal como el asma iniciada en la adultez y los problemas relacionados al COVID están entre las posibilidades.
    • Roncar o dejar de respirar en algún momento de la noche puede ser señal de apnea del sueño y otros problemas respiratorios. Una falta de calidad de sueño se asocia a varios problemas de salud graves, como la presión arterial alta, un apetito mayor que puede derivar en diabetes y aumento de peso, ansiedad y depresión.

    “Es común que las parejas de los hombres los echen del dormitorio por sus ronquidos, pero la persona que más sufre es la que tiene apnea del sueño y no obtiene sueño de calidad por la noche”, comenta el Dr. Mehta. “Es posible que piensen que pueden dormir en cualquier momento, pero en realidad no se dan cuenta de que no duermen bien por la noche y como resultado pueden dormirse en cualquier momento del día”. 

    Salud del oído, nariz y garganta:

    • El tinnitus, es decir, el zumbido y otros sonidos en el oído, tener mejor audición en uno de los oídos y experimentar dolor de oído son afecciones que se están volviendo más comunes porque las personas trabajan desde sus casas y usan auriculares, dice el Dr. Mehta.
    • Los hombres con dolor de garganta crónico, especialmente los fumadores, o los que tienen lesiones blancas en la boca deberían controlarse por cáncer de garganta. “Es muy importante buscar ayuda rápidamente si experimenta algo de esto”, expresa el Dr. Mehta.
    • La congestión crónica puede ser un signo de alergias estacionales y los hombres que las tienen pueden beneficiarse de una vacuna estacional llamada inyección para la rinitis alérgica estacional, afirma el Dr. Mehta.
    • Aquellos que sufran de congestión crónica sin explicación deberían hacerse exámenes de detección para pólipos nasales. En algunos casos, la sensación de respirar con más dificultad por un orificio nasal que por el otro puede ser un síntoma.
    • Una sensación de tener que aclarar la garganta constantemente o de tener algo atorado en la garganta puede ser un signo de enfermedad de reflujo gastroesofágico.

    Diabetes:

    • Igual que con la micción frecuente, sentir sed a menudo significa que es momento de realizarse un examen de detección de diabetes.
    • El Dr. Mehta afirma que aquellas personas que consumen grandes cantidades de alcohol también deben hacerse análisis.

    ###

    Información sobre Mayo Clinic Healthcare
    Mayo Clinic Healthcare está ubicada en Londres y es una subsidiaria de propiedad exclusiva de Mayo Clinic, que es un centro médico académico sin fines de lucro. En los Estados Unidos, Mayo Clinic califica en el primer lugar en más especialidades que ningún otro hospital de ese país, según dice el U.S. News & World Report (Noticias de EE. UU. e Informe Mundial) debido a una razón: la calidad de la atención médica. Mayo Clinic Healthcare es en el Reino Unido la puerta de entrada a este tipo de experiencia incomparable. Visite Mayo Clinic Healthcare para más información.

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  • Linus Is Stepping Down As CEO Of Linus Media Group

    Linus Is Stepping Down As CEO Of Linus Media Group

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    Screenshot: YouTube

    Canadian YouTuber Linus Sebastian, best known to most as the guy behind the insanely popular Linus Tech Tips channel, has announced that he’s stepping down as CEO of the companies he helped create and has been running for the past ten years.

    An Anime That Might Make You Put Your Minecraft Bed Next To Someone

    In a 10-minute video called “It’s time”, Sebastian announces that as of July 1 he’ll no longer be heading up Linus Media Group, the company that not only runs the Linus Tech Tips show but also companies like Creator Warehouse and Floatplane Media as well.

    I’m Stepping Down..

    “I wasn’t built for this, and I’m tired”, he says. “Like ‘really can’t do this anymore’ tired. And if I try to drag myself through another 10 years of business administration I know I’m gonna destroy myself, and probably end up killing the company and the community that I love so much in the process”.

    Of course he isn’t leaving the show or YouTube altogether. We’d have said that up top if he were. Instead he’ll be moving into a new job called “Chief Vision Officer”—which he admits is “a stupid, BS-sounding, made-up role”—which will allow him to not just keep making videos, but maybe even appear in more of them, since he’ll have been freed up to do so without having to focus on all the business stuff that comes with being CEO of a company that at time of publishing has around 100 employees.

    Interestingly, Sebastian says that at the same time he was making this decision, Linus Media received an offer of $100 million to “sell out”, which was in the form of 60% cash straight-up, and 40% equity in the (undisclosed) purchasing company. Linus decided to turn it down, though, citing a combination of factors like the fact they liked working with the company as it was and that, to be real, they were already super rich already.

    Terren Tong, previously with Corsair, will replace Sebastian as CEO.

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    Luke Plunkett

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  • Week In Review: May 14, 2023

    Week In Review: May 14, 2023

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  • Cannabis use disorder and schizophrenia connection: expert says the drug, “seems to be amplifying some of the consequences that we are seeing”

    Cannabis use disorder and schizophrenia connection: expert says the drug, “seems to be amplifying some of the consequences that we are seeing”

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    What: A new study in Psychological Medicine found an association between young men with cannabis use disorder and a higher risk of developing schizophrenia. Furthermore, intense cannabis use may trigger and/or worsen schizophrenia. 

    Who: Katharine Sperandio, Ph.D., LPC, ACS, NCC, assistant professor of Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Saint Joseph’s University, actively serves clients in the Philadelphia community so that she can continue to use her clinical experiences to inform her teaching and scholarship. The mission of her research agenda is to increase understanding on how to help those living with addiction promote and sustain their recovery and how to optimally support families who are impacted by addiction.

    Dr. Sperandio says this study provides further evidence about some of the potentially deleterious consequences that can come from long-term cannabis use.

    “I think the study reinforces the notion that this is an issue that continues to remain relevant and needs further exploration so that mental health professionals can be better prepared to help those who are using cannabis and have a co-occurring mental health disorder,” says Sperandio.

    “Cannabis has clearly become more potent over time which seems to be amplifying some of the consequences that we are seeing,” says Sperandio. “As a professional counselor and a counselor educator, it is my ethical responsibility to stay up-to-date on the current research so I can educate both my clients and students appropriately.”

    When: Zoom/phone/in-person interview available upon request.

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    About Saint Joseph’s University

    Founded in 1851 as Philadelphia’s Jesuit university, Saint Joseph’s University prepares students for a rapidly changing world by focusing on academic excellence and courageous exploration. With an intellectual tradition distinguished by a foundational liberal arts core and diversified by strong professional programs in education, business, health and science, Saint Joseph’s students are empowered, challenged and supported by high-quality faculty members to follow their own path. As a comprehensive university, undergraduate and graduate students study in the University’s four schools and colleges — the College of Arts and Sciences, the Erivan K. Haub School of Business, the School of Education and Human Development and the School of Health Professions. With academic offerings in the most sought-after majors, including leading programs in the first-in-the-nation Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, nearly 100% of students are employed, pursuing advanced degrees or volunteering in prestigious service programs upon graduation. The University’s network of nearly 100,000 proud alumni keep alive the rallying cry — The Hawk Will Never Die.

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    Saint Joseph’s University

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  • Strong link between bone biomarkers and prostate cancer survival

    Strong link between bone biomarkers and prostate cancer survival

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    Newswise — Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of death in American men. Understanding the factors that influence patient outcomes is critical for improving treatment and survival rates.

    Research led by UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center reveals a link between bone metabolism biomarkers and survival in men with newly diagnosed hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (HSPC) who received androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). The work was published in European Urology.

    The study analyzed results from a SWOG Cancer Research Network Phase 3 trial of nearly 1,000 patients on ADT, including some who were also on the novel hormonal therapy Orteronel. Patients participating in the trial came from 248 academic and community centers throughout the country.

    Bone biomarkers for both bone loss and bone formation were measured in HSPC patients enrolled in the trial.

    The researchers found that elevated bone biomarkers were associated with an increased risk of death. Bone biomarkers have been found to influence overall survival in men with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), but have not been fully established for HSPC. CRPC is a prostate cancer that continues to grow even when testosterone levels are greatly reduced.

    “Our findings show that high levels of bone turnover biomarkers are associated with a shorter lifespan in men newly diagnosed with metastatic HSPC,” said UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center Director Primo “Lucky” Lara Jr. “In the future, knowing one’s bone biomarker status could improve how we predict patient outcomes and enhance treatment considerations for men with HSPC.”

    Managing bone health during prostate cancer treatment

    A finely balanced interaction between cells that rebuild bone and cells that destroy bone is common in men with advanced prostate cancer. These men often present with skeletal metastasis, a common source of bone pain and fracture that can affect their survival.

    In addition, men with metastatic HSPC are typically treated with ADT, which disrupts bone turnover and contributes to the development of bone diseases such as osteopenia and osteoporosis. Previous studies have shown that elevated levels of blood-based biomarkers of bone turnover predict survival in men with CRPC and bone targeted therapy may help patients with highly elevated markers.

    “This study takes a similar look at bone turnover biomarkers in men with advanced or metastatic HSPC who are initiating ADT as part of a large phase 3 clinical trial,” said co-author and UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center clinical scientist Mamta Parikh. She is also the cancer center’s director of genitourinary malignancies. “Ultimately, our findings add to the growing understanding of the complex interplay between cancer and bone metabolism, which will also help us design of future clinical trials.”

    Co-authors

    Other contributors to the study included Edward Mayerson, Catherine Tangen and Michael LeBlanc from the SWOG Statistical Center, Seattle; Erik Gertz and Marta van Loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Western Human Nutrition Research Center, Davis; Amir Goldkorn and David I. Quinn from the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles; Maha Hussain with the Northwestern University, Chicago; Shilpa Gupta with the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland; Jingsong Zhang with Moffit Cancer Institute, Tampa Bay; Przemyslaw Twardowski with St. John’s Cancer Institute, Providence Health, Santa Monica; Nicholas J. Vogelzang with Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada, Las Vegas; Ian Thompson with Christus Santa Rosa Health System, TX Health, San Antonio and Neeraj Agarwal with Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City.

     

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    UC Davis Health

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