Adult UrologySuramin treatment in hormone- and chemotherapy-refractory prostate cancer
Section snippets
Patient characteristics and evaluation
Between March 1990 and January 1994, 27 patients with hormone- and chemotherapy-refractory metastatic cancer of the prostate were enrolled in this study after giving written informed consent. The study protocol was approved by the local ethics committee. Mean age was 60.8 years (range 50 to 78). The initial treatment at the time of diagnosis had been radical prostatectomy in 10 patients, external beam radiation therapy in 1 patient, and primary androgen ablation in 16 patients. Of the 10
Dosage
The average duration of suramin treatment was 108 days (range 3 to 461). In this time, patients were given between 3.0 and 49.3 g of suramin (average dose 14.7). In 6 patients, therapy was discontinued during the loading phase without reaching therapeutic levels because of side effects (see toxicity section). The 21 patients reaching therapeutic serum levels were treated with doses between 10.25 and 22.25 g of suramin during a single course, with a suramin infusion every 7 to 10 days. One
Comment
Epidemiologic studies indicate an increasing incidence of prostate cancer, especially in younger men. Curative therapy is limited to patients with organ-confined disease only. Once cancer is advanced or metastatic, only palliative treatment is available. Since Huggins and Hodges11 published their experience on the beneficiary effects of castration in these patients, androgen deprivation by operative or chemical means still represents the therapy of choice.
Despite modifications in hormonal
Acknowledgements
To Prof. Dr. Siekmann at the laboratories of clinical biochemistry at the University of Bonn for performing the high-performance liquid chromatography analysis of suramin serum levels and to Mr. Herde, who collected the data of our first set of patients.
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The role of calcium channels in prostate cancer progression and potential as a druggable target for prostate cancer treatment
2023, Critical Reviews in Oncology/HematologyLysyl oxidase (LOX) mRNA expression and genes of the differentiated osteoblastic phenotype are upregulated in human osteosarcoma cells by suramin
2008, Cancer LettersCitation Excerpt :Suramin was initially introduced for the treatment of parasitic infections [12]. Its anti-cancer activity was later identified and suramin has been introduced into clinical trials for various forms of cancer [13–17]. It was shown that high doses of suramin inhibit growth of malignant histiocytomas in vitro [18].
The propeptide domain of lysyl oxidase induces phenotypic reversion of ras-transformed cells
2004, Journal of Biological ChemistryAutocrine growth factor regulation of lysyl oxidase expression in transformed fibroblasts
2003, Journal of Biological ChemistryCitation Excerpt :If lysyl oxidase expression were increased in the lungs of suramin-treated animals, this treatment could actually exacerbate rather than prevent lung fibrosis. By contrast, due to the tumor suppressor activity of lysyl oxidase, beneficial effects of suramin on different forms of cancer may be in part due to increased expression of lysyl oxidase (37, 39, 64–66). Mechanisms by which lysyl oxidase functions as a tumor suppressor are not clearly identified.
Angiogenesis in prostate cancer: Its role in disease progression and possible therapeutic approaches
2002, Molecular and Cellular EndocrinologyAntihelminthic drugs
2001, Side Effects of Drugs Annual
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Bruno Allolio was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG (Al203/1–5).