The American Journal of Hematology/Oncology, has published a provocative article exploring the role of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) in the development, progression and potential treatment of prostate cancer.
The article references seminal published endocrinology research and proposes the possibility that there could be a connection to prostate cancer that has new therapeutic implications. Dr. Andrew Schally, PhD, MDhc, DSc,hc, discovered and described gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) and its complex control of the gonadal endocrine system through its regulation of FSH and luteinizing hormone (LH), and its effects on androgens, estrogens and the ovulatory cycle. He was awarded a Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1977 for his work in this area. Dr. Schally shared the prize that year with Roger Guillemin and Rosalyn Sussman Yalow.
Lead author E. David Crawford, MD, is the distinguished Professor of Surgery, Urology, and Radiation Oncology, and head of the Section of Urologic Oncology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Recognized as one of the best cancer doctors in America by Men's Health, Dr. Crawford is an active clinician, researcher and teacher. He and his team of co-authors, along with Dr. Schally, present an article in the December issue describing the relationships between FSH, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and other modulators of prostatic cancer. Dr. Schally is the Distinguished Medical Research Scientist of the Veterans Administration, Head of the Endocrine, Polypeptide and Cancer Institute at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Miami and Distinguished Professor in the Department of Pathology and Professor in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
"Dr. Crawford and his team of distinguished colleagues leverage Dr. Schally's research and lend insight to the role of follicle-stimulating hormone in prostate cancer, a potentially pivotal pathway that may open new avenues for prostate cancer therapy," said Debu Tripathy, MD, editor-in-chief of The American Journal of Hematology/Oncology and professor of medicine and chair, Department of Breast Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. "We are privileged to publish their work and the advances it may bring to the understanding and ultimate treatment of prostate cancer."
The December article reviews the dysregulation of the FSH system and a growing body of evidence that supports the role of the FSH system in the development and progression of prostate cancer. The authors explain that FSH receptors are overexpressed in prostate cancer and tumor-associated blood vessels, and pathophysiological alterations in key modulators can result in increased FSH signaling with consequent impact on downstream processes, such as angiogenesis. The article also reviews research from Dr. Schally's team at the University of Miami along with Dr. Crawford, who have developed and tested GnRH antagonists, which like GnRH agonists (such as leuprolide) suppress androgen production, but, unlike them, also cause long term suppression of FSH. Moreover, the authors discuss that the long term suppression of FSH by GnRH antagonists may provide a basis for the development of other targeted therapies modulating the FSH axis.
Prostate cancer is the most common noncutaneous related cancer in men, and the American Cancer Society estimated over 230,000 new cases of prostate cancer and nearly 30,000 deaths in the United Sates in 2014.
Research for the article was partially funded by Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc.