Stem cells and prostate cancer

I know that one of the current "in" theories is that both prostate
cancer and breast cancer start from a cancer-producing stem cell. The
only article I saw on this based their conclusion on the fact that a
stem cell is found in the center of the primary tumor mass. Does anyone
know of any more convincing evidence to support the stem cell theory?

Ed Friedman

Ed,

You'll have to decide how convincing this is to you or whether you find
it directly relevant to your question, but here's a reference that I
sent out to close female relatives in support of a suggestion that they
start regular breast exams, if they were not doing so already, due to a
known genetic predisposition in the family to prostate cancer:

Carlos López-Otín and Eleftherios P. Diamandis (1998). Breast and
Prostate Cancer: An Analysis of Common Epidemiological, Genetic, and
Biochemical Features, Endocrine Reviews, 19 (4): 365-396,
http://edrv.endojournals.org/cgi/content/full/19/4/365.

Best wishes,
Tom Rue

http://vitruvian.tomrue.net/?n=Health.MensHealth

http://vitruvian.tomrue.net/?n=Health.WomensHealth





Ed Friedman wrote:
> I know that one of the current "in" theories is that both prostate
> cancer and breast cancer start from a cancer-producing stem cell. The
> only article I saw on this based their conclusion on the fact that a
> stem cell is found in the center of the primary tumor mass. Does anyone
> know of any more convincing evidence to support the stem cell theory?
>
> Ed Friedman

Ed,

You'll have to decide how convincing this is to you or whether you find
it directly relevant to your question, but here's a reference that I
sent out to close female relatives in support of a suggestion that they
start regular breast exams, if they were not doing so already, due to a
known genetic predisposition in the family to prostate cancer:

Carlos López-Otín and Eleftherios P. Diamandis (1998). Breast and
Prostate Cancer: An Analysis of Common Epidemiological, Genetic, and
Biochemical Features, Endocrine Reviews, 19 (4): 365-396,
http://edrv.endojournals.org/cgi/content/full/19/4/365.

Best wishes,
Tom Rue

http://vitruvian.tomrue.net/?n=Health.MensHealth

http://vitruvian.tomrue.net/?n=Health.WomensHealth





Ed Friedman wrote:
> I know that one of the current "in" theories is that both prostate
> cancer and breast cancer start from a cancer-producing stem cell. The
> only article I saw on this based their conclusion on the fact that a
> stem cell is found in the center of the primary tumor mass. Does anyone
> know of any more convincing evidence to support the stem cell theory?
>
> Ed Friedman

"Ed Friedman" <ed@math.uchicago.edu> wrote in message
news:ZJlfh.60$45.377@news.uchicago.edu...
>I know that one of the current "in" theories is that both prostate cancer
>and breast cancer start from a cancer-producing stem cell. The only
>article I saw on this based their conclusion on the fact that a stem cell
>is found in the center of the primary tumor mass. Does anyone know of any
>more convincing evidence to support the stem cell theory?

Adult stem cells? No.




--
PSA 16 10/17/2000 @ 46
Biopsy 11/01/2000 G7 (3+4), T2c
RRP 12/15/2000 G7 (3+4), T3cN0M0 Neg margins
PSA .1 .1 .1 .27 .37 .75
EBRT 05-07/2002 @ 47
PSA .34 .22 .15 .21 .32
Lupron 07/03 (1 mo) 8/03 (4 mo), 12/03, 4/04, 09/04, 01/05, 5/05, 10/05,
2/06, 6/06
PSA .07 .05 .06 .09 .08 .132 .145
Casodex added daily 07/06
PSA <0.04
Non Illegitimi Carborundum

Ed Friedman wrote:
> I know that one of the current "in" theories is that both prostate
> cancer and breast cancer start from a cancer-producing stem cell. The
> only article I saw on this based their conclusion on the fact that a
> stem cell is found in the center of the primary tumor mass. Does anyone
> know of any more convincing evidence to support the stem cell theory?
>
> Ed Friedman

Ed...There's a brief article entitled "Stem Cells in Inflammatory
Disease" on Medscape.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/547432?src=mp

It may have a few helpful references. There are a number of articles
on stem cell involvement in the hormone dependent to hormone
independent PCa transformation, but they are not related to cancer
initiation...Best wishes and good health, ron

The answer to my question has just appeared in the Dec. 21 issue of NEJM
(basically they are defining cancer stem cells to be what used to be
called metastatic cancer cells). Thanks to Ron and Tom for their
responses. Tom, the link you posted to that article was especially
helpful. My next paper is going to describe prostate cancer in more
detail, as well as breast cancer (my model answers all of the unanswered
questions posed by the paper Tom cited). Basically, the properties for
both are the same, with the exception that abnormal breast epithelial
cells undergo apoptosis with much lower levels of T than what is
required for abnormal prostate cells to undergo apoptosis (which makes
sense, since women have so much less T than men do).

Happy Holidays to all,

Ed Friedman