| Male birth-control pill in future? Not likely
Drug giant Merck & Co. Inc. is partnering with GTx and is giving high priority to Ostarine, which has undergone extensive human testing. The company is also conducting large-scale human tests on two types of Acapodene, an anti-prostate cancer drug spun off from University of Tennessee research. Miller said he's hopeful for success. "If we get one drug on the market, that is fantastic. That is a lifetime event. But I'd like to have more than one lifetime event," he said with a laugh. Female contraceptive pills have been on the market for decades, but efforts to create a male birth-control pill have failed over and over. .
Prostate Cancer Progression May Be Promoted By Hormonal Dietary ...
Hormonal components in over-the-counter dietary supplements may promote the progression of prostate cancer and decrease the effectiveness of anti-cancer drugs, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered.
The findings, which appear in Clinical Cancer Research, reaffirm that patients should inform their doctors about any herbal or hormonal dietary supplements they are taking or considering taking. The researchers also recommend that documentation of supplement usage become part of routine health assessments for all patients, particularly cancer patients.
"Physicians need to ask their patients not only about the prescription drugs they may be taking, but - perhaps even more importantly - about the over-the-counter drugs and supplements, which may have a profound impact on certain health conditions," said Dr.
Cuban scientists develop cancer drug from scorpion venom
Cuban scientists have developed a drug from scorpion venom, which they say could go a long way in fighting cancer, Spanish news agency Prensa Latina reported on Thursday. "The researchers have been studying the breeding, handling and use of scorpion venom in their Cienfuegos breeding centre, which has 400 scorpions at present but would increase to 5,000 next year," team leader Fabio Linares of the Pharmaceutical Biological Laboratories in Havana said Wednesday. The drug can be used to treat brain tumours, pancreas and prostate cancer. Linares said the idea of researching the possibility of scorpion venom as cure for cancer and other diseases gained in strength after it was realised that local doctors had been using it for centuries. A container from the colonial era preserving scorpion venom in Havana's French Pharmacy indicates that it was used in country since the 18th Century, the scientist said.
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