According to the American Cancer Society, the second cause of cancer-related deaths in the US is prostate cancer, which is behind lung cancer. It is estimated that approximately 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime. Unfortunately, even if many cases are treatable, others cannot be effectively treated with existing drugs, which leads to poor outcomes. Still, mouse model studies propose a quite new and optimistic direction: a vitamin K precursor may help slow the in slower progression of prostate cancer.
Breakthrough Research in Vitamin K and Cancer
Lately, a striking and something never seen before outcome at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has emerged and demonstrated one of the most probable new treatments for prostate cancer. According to the research team led by Lloyd Trotman, a professor and scientist at the same time, as a pro-solvent supplement, menadione was present in the mouse study in large amounts. These studies revealed that the very existence of a significantly large number of prostate cancer cells was due to its long-term scientific effort as far back as the early 2000s until now, when the research was repeated, and such a breakthrough has been made.
Vitamin E Studies
Back in 2001, the National Cancer Institute commenced a large-scale clinical trial to verify if the antitoxin vitamin E had the potential to stop or even cure prostate cancer. The experiment’s population was 35,000 males who were supposed to be under observation for 12 years. The matter of fact is that only after three years did the teachers find a “big surprise”. The event of them observing, not only did it vitamins fail to work as expected, but it also seemed that they were the cause of the risk of cancer. Therefore, it was the decision of the participants who were asked to discontinue the supplement immediately.
The New Study Involving Mice
Having gotten the information about the vitamin E study failure, Prof Lloyd Trotman made a daring suggestion: maybe while antitoxin had caused the cancer, the pro-oxidant would have an opposite effect. Indeed, it turned out to be the case with the professor’s suggestion. In their very first study, which is one to be remembered, prostate cancer mice were subjected to menadione, a sort of supplement present in vegetables, such as green leafy vegetables, and the results were amazing. The therapy initiated by the drug blocked the virus from using the body like a parasite by attacking its energy source. In this case, a particular lipid, PI(3)P, was the target of the attack initiated via menadione, which ended up being the cancer cells’ starvation and decay trigger.
Hopes That The Results Will Translate to Human Studies
The team intends to verify the obtained data in human prostate cancer patients, by using men with early-stage disease to observe the effect of menadione on the disease’s progression. More interestingly, it was found that menadione also helps in the treatment of myotubular myopathy, a rare muscular disorder in boys, thereby prolonging the life of affected mice. Such a discovery could be a solution for the two diseases – cancer and a muscle genetic disorder.
The Verdict on Vitamin K and Prostate Cancer Prevention
Some interesting research was carried out on mice, indicating that it might very well be the case that menadione can significantly help in the therapy of men with prostate cancer; however, it is still early days, and not certain that this will be the situation. Menadione successful, will surely be a remarkable access for millions of cancer patients annually, hence it is expected that it will have a qualitative impact on men’s lives and be a ray of hope in the patient community.
