Prostate cancer treatment or Alzheimer's risk? A new study sheds new light on this issue

Prostate cancer treatment or Alzheimer's risk? A new study sheds new light on this issue. If you or someone you know is suffering from prostate cancer then this information is very important for you.

Prostate cancer treatment or Alzheimer's risk? A new study sheds new light on this issue. If you or someone you know is suffering from prostate cancer then this information is very important for you. According to a study, standard hormone therapy for prostate cancer can increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease in men. Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is used to treat prostate cancer. It reduces testosterone (the most common androgen), which is needed by cancer to grow.

Researchers at the Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University in the US reported that androgens are removed with therapy. Excessive androgen removal increases the risk of Alzheimer's. Qin Wang, director of the Alzheimer's Clinical Discovery Program at MCG, said that we know that prostate cancer largely affects men over the age of 65, who are already at a higher risk of Alzheimer's due to their age.

In a paper published in the journal Science Advances, however, they said that the role of androgen deprivation therapy was not largely understood. To understand this, the team created an animal model suffering from Alzheimer's disease and cancer. The team administered ADT for eight weeks while monitoring androgen levels and tumor size. After this, the team developed other animal models. A so-called wild type (without Alzheimer's or cancer), a group with only Alzheimer's, and a group with only cancer that received ADT therapy. While there was no significant difference in plaque load at the end of eight weeks, they found more activity in "glial cells (which are part of the central nervous system)" in the cancer group and the treated group.

Inflammation in the brain

Qin Wang said that this indicates inflammation in the brain. In addition, they saw an increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines, which cause increased inflammation. At the same time, anti-inflammatory cytokines were found to decrease. There was a decrease, especially in animals with Alzheimer's and cancer who received ADT. Wang said that the important thing is that there was significant damage to the blood-brain block of the animals. ADT treatment is actually making the blood-brain block more permeable. This would explain why there is so much more inflammation in that group.

What is the solution?

The combination of ADT and natalizumab has been used to treat multiple sclerosis and Crohn's disease. The team also treated mice suffering from Alzheimer's and cancer. The treatment reduced infiltration, subsequently improving the blood-brain barrier. The pro-inflammatory cycle also decreased, while other things were improved. Wang said on clinical trials in patients undergoing ADT for prostate cancer that we know that it is not only about amyloid plaques but the process of the immune system is also a major contributing factor here.