A Novel Diterpene Suppresses CWR22Rv1 Tumor Growth in Vivo through Anti-proliferation and Pro-apoptosis

Prostate caner (PCa) is one of the most commonly occurring cancers in men and is also one of the top 10 fatal cancers in Taiwan. The growth of PCa cells is stimulated by androgen. Although the majority of prostate cancers initially respond to androgen ablation, tumors will gradually grow resistance, and patients will eventually die due to widespread metastases. Recently, we isolated a compound called 6-Hydroxy-5,6-dehydrosugiol (HDHS) from Cryptomeria japonica and discovered that HDHS is capable of suppressing PCa growth by inhibiting androgen receptor activity and inducing apoptosis. Both in vitro and in vivo studies showed superior clinical effect in HDHS comparing to the commonly used antiandrogen, Casodex. As androgen being proved critical for the growth and recurrence of PCa, and the result of our experiment suggested that oral intake of HDHS significantly retarded PCa growth making it an essential task to further investigate the potential of HDHS use in prevention and therapy in PCa treatment.
Pei-Wen Hsiao

Lin, F. M., Tsai, C. H., Yang, Y. C., Tu, W. C., Chen, L. R., Liang, Y. S., Wang, S. Y., Shyur, L. F., Chien, S. C., Cha, T. L. and Hsiao, P. W.* (2008) A Novel Diterpene Suppresses CWR22Rv1 Tumor Growth in Vivo through Anti-proliferation and Pro-apoptosis Cancer Research, 68: 6634-6642