Treatment of prostate cancer using a very low dose of nitroglycerin may slow and even halt the progression of the disease without the severe side effects of current treatments, Queen's University researchers have discovered.

The findings are the result of the first-ever clinical trial using nitroglycerin to treat prostate cancer. The 24-month, Phase II study targeted 29 men with increasing levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) following prostate surgery or radiation. PSA levels are a key predictor of cancer progression.More »

New research has found that hormone therapy used to treat men with advanced prostate cancer is associated with an increased chance of developing various heart problems. Some choices of therapy appear, however, to be less risky than others.

Researchers told Europe's biggest cancer congress, ECCO 15 – ESMO 34, in Berlin Sept. 22 that the findings of their study, the largest and most comprehensive to date on the issue, indicate that doctors need to start considering heart-related side effects when they prescribe endocrine therapy for prostate cancer and might want to refer patients to a cardiologist before starting treatment.More »

A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association links hormone therapy for prostate cancer with a higher risk of death in older men who have had serious heart problems. Hormone therapy suppresses the amount of testosterone produced, causing prostate tumors to shrink or grow more slowly.

The treatment can help men with more advanced disease when used with surgery or radiation. But the side effects are troubling: impotence, bone loss, hot flashes, memory problems, fatigue and an increased risk for diabetes and heart disease.More »

WEDNESDAY, July 8 (HealthDay News) -- Doctors don't have to be so cautious in prescribing the drug finasteride to men at risk for prostate cancer, a new study suggests.

Physicians face a dilemma when trying to decide whether to use the drug, which has been shown to prevent prostate cancer in about one in five men who take it. However, findings from the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial published in 2003 concluded that men who developed prostate cancer while taking finasteride were 25 percent more likely to develop an aggressive form of the disease.

But a new study from the Stanford University School of Medicine suggests that the drug does not increase the risk for aggressive prostate cancer but simply makes it easier to diagnose. The study appears in the July 7 issue of Clinical Cancer Research.More »