A new drug that reduces the breakdown of retinoic acid may offer new hope to men with prostate cancer, say researchers.
The drug, called VN/14-1, appears to block the breakdown of retinoic acid, a compound created when the body breaks down vitamin A.
Retinoic acid, which is occurs in very limited amounts in prostate cancer cells, helps to support healthy cell growth.
The results of the study are an unexpected and wonderful surprise, according to senior investigator Dr. Vincent Njar, associate professor in the University of Maryland's Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.
According to Dr. Njar, This potent agent causes cancer cells to differentiate, forcing them to turn back to a non-cancerous state - which is what we expected it would do - but it also stops cancer growth by arresting the cell cycle and pushes cells to die by inducing programmed cell death.
The findings were presented at a conference of the American Association for Cancer Research.