Friday, October 18, 2019

Could Cancer be a Manageable Disease with Hormone Treatments?

Progesterone is produced in both men and women in adrenal glands and the
brain, and additionally in the ovaries and placenta in women.  This hormone
has “its production in the brain, by oligodendrocytes…[which] provides
clues to itscritical role in neural homeostasis” (Espinoza, 2018).  The large
increase of progesterone in fetal development is a strong sign of its
importance in neuronal development (Espinoza, 2018). Additionally, “there
is evidence that it also plays a much broader role in correcting and maintaining
homeostasis after physiologic stress and injury beyond the central nervous
system” (Espinoza, 2018).  Due to its proteomic and receptor-mediated
systems, progesterone treatment is proving to be more resilient compared
to other therapies (Espinoza, 2018). One of the most exciting parts of
rogesterone therapy for brain injury is that it is effective after the injury
has occurred as well as a good neuroprotectant.  A study was done to test
progesterone’s effect on rats that had experimentally induced brain injury
versus a placebo group and a sham surgery (Stein, 2010). They found that
“the brain-injured rats treated with progesterone performed significantly
better on spatial learning tasks than the placebo group and did nearly as
well as the rats in the sham surgery group that did not sustain any brain
injury” (Espinoza, 2018).

Progesterone treatment has been shown to reduce the swelling in injured
areas, reduced loss of neurons, increasing in remyelination, and a general
speedier and stronger recovery process (Espinoza, 2018).  One way
scientists think progesterone allows for better neuronal recovery is by
blocking the synthesis of the cytokine TNF-alpha, IL-1, and IL-6, which
normally increases inflammation. Some other ways progesterone aids the
neuronal recovery process is by limiting microglial cells  Progesterone is
also used to treat fibroid tumors (noncancerous growths on the uterus),
poly-cystic ovary syndrome. How can a hormone that is thought to promote
cell vitality also help with cysts and growths? Progesterone needs to be
thought of as a hormone that helps maintain neuronal homeostasis and
handles damage control whether that means too many cells (growths)
or not enough from damage.  The other side to progesterone is its
semi-counterpart testosterone/androgens, and another type of hormone
treatment is the blocking of testosterone and its production for cancer
patients.


It was found that for some prostate cancers, drugs traditionally used to treat
breast and ovarian cancer were more effective.  The treatment was able to
slow progression as well as increase survival rates in patients. The drugs
used are abiraterone, enzalutamide, and olaparib.  They are considered “adrenal
inhibitors”since they inhibit enzymes necessary for androgen synthesis.
These treatments are typically used with patients that are in the advanced stages
of prostate cancer and have defective DNA repair genes (same genes correlated
with breast cancer).  The results showed “ the efficacy of olaparib in men with
advanced prostate cancer and gene defects involved in a cell’s ability to repair
its DNA” (ICR, 2019). In addition to the obvious benefits of this treatment,
there were also less extreme side-effects that occur with chemotherapy. 
Furthermore, “olaparib is able to kill cancer cells with faulty DNA repair genes
while sparing normal cells” (ICR, 2019). This type of treatment is leading some
doctors to consider the possibility that cancer could be treated as a long-term,
controllable disease.

Works cited:



“Breast Cancer Drugs More Effective Than Hormone Therapy For Some
Prostate Cancers.” Drug Discovery from Technology Networks,


de Bono, Johann, and Maha Hussain. “ESMO 2019: Breast and Ovarian
Cancer Drug Outperforms Targeted Hormone Therapy in Some Men
with Advanced Prostate Cancer.” The Institute of Cancer Research, 2019, 
-drug-outperforms-targeted-hormone-therapy-in-some-men-with-
advanced-prostate-cancer.


Espinoza, Tamara R, and David W Wright. “The Role of Progesterone in
Traumatic Brain Injury.” The Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation,
U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2011,
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6025750/#R7.

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