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Cancer Indicator May Actually Fight Cancer
     Prostate-specific antigen, tested as an indicator of prostate cancer in men, may slow the growth of cancers by  inhibiting the formation of new blood  vessels, according to a new study in the Oct. 6 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. This may also explain why prostate cancer is generally a slow-growing cancer.
     Despite its name, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is found in the blood of patients with other types of cancer. This is why doctors frequently use it as a screening test for cancer. Recent studies suggest PSA may be part of the body's defense against cancer, as it produces proteins to stop new blood vessel growth, a process known as angiogenesis, which is essential for cancer tumors to spread.
     Researchers from Rockville, Md., tested PSA to see if it could stop the growth of new blood vessels. In lab tests, they found PSA effectively stopped cell functions linked to angiogenesis. They also found giving PSA to mice with melanoma, a skin cancer, produced beneficial results. Compared with mice who didn't receive PSA, those treated with PSA showed a 40 percent reduction in the number of tumors that had spread.
     Researchers propose PSA inhibits blood vessel growth that fuels the spread of cancer. They believe their findings suggest doctors should re-examine current cancer treatments aimed at inhibiting PSA and may lead to using PSA to treat cancers whose growth depends on the development of new blood vessels.   Source: Journal of National Cancer Institute, Oct. 6, 1999 No. 19