Despite its common occurrence, the biology of prostate cancer progression, especially the establishment of bone metastases in advanced cases of this malignancy is still poorly understood. The skeleton is the most common site of prostate cancer metastasis. To-date, there is no effective therapy available for hormone refractory prostate cancer that has aggressively metastasized to the bone. Thus, one of the most challenging tasks in the management of this advanced disease is to figure out ways of interfering with the skeletal metastatic outcome in these patients. Efforts to discover novel approaches to interfere with the formation of osteosclerotic lesions in bone metastases of prostate cancer based on dietary agents resulted in the identificatiuoin of a naturally occurring compound called curcumin. Popularly called """"""""turmeric"""""""", isolated from the rhizome of the plant curcuma longa L, this material is well known in Indian traditional medicine and cuisine for centuries for its anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. During the last two decades, its chemopreventive role in the initiation, promotion and progression phases of skin and colorectal cancers has been well studied. However, its potential therapeutic role in preventing the formation of or interfering with the already established metastases in prostate cancer has not been explored. Preliminary investigations highly suggest that this naturally occurring compound may interfere with the the formation of both the blastic and the resorptive components of prostate cancer bone metastasis that typify the predominantly osteoblastic but yet osteosclerotic lesions in this cancer. More over, the preliminary studies indicate that this compound can also interfere with the cross-talk between the cancer cells and the bony microenvironment that involve several growth factors. Our studies indicate that curcumin could be used a s potentially therapeutic agent since it can interfere with the unique property of prostate cancer cells which mimic the behavior of bone cells inorder to survive in the bone. We propose a systematic study using histopathological and histomorphometric approaches in an experimental prostate cancer bone metastasis animal model system, to validate our hypothesis that this compound can minimize the formation or reduce the severity of already formed bone metastatic lesions. Feasibility of this approach will offer prostate cancer patients a safe and nontoxic way to treat the metasatic complications at least in an adjuvant manner, along with other therapies. ? ? ?
| Dorai, Thambi; Diouri, Janane; O'Shea, Orla et al. (2014) Curcumin Inhibits Prostate Cancer Bone Metastasis by Up-Regulating Bone Morphogenic Protein-7 in Vivo. J Cancer Ther 5:369-386 |
