title: Response of rat and human prostatic cancers to the novel 5 alpha-reductase inhibitor, SK&F 105657.
abstract: The response of two androgen-responsive rat prostatic cancers (i.e., Dunning R-3327 H and G sublines) and one androgen-responsive human prostatic cancer (i.e., PC-82) to the 5 alpha-reductase inhibitor, SK&F 105657, was tested in vivo. SK&F 105657 was administered orally twice a day at a dose of 25 or 50 mg/kg/dose. The rat R-3327 G tumor and the human PC-82 tumor have a low to undetectable level of tissue 5 alpha-reductase activity and both responded to SK&F 105657 treatment with a reproducible inhibition of tumor growth. Associated with this antitumor effect was a major decrease (i.e., greater than 70%) in tissue dihydrotestosterone (DHT) content in both tumors. By contrast, the rat R-3327 H prostatic cancer has a much higher level of tissue 5 alpha-reductase activity, and neither tumor DHT content nor growth of the tumor was inhibited by treatment with SK&F 105657. Drug treatment of rats bearing R-3227 H tumors resulted in a similar reduction in the DHT content, wet weight, and DNA content of the ventral prostate as that produced in R-3327 G tumor-bearing rats which experienced an antitumor response. These results suggest that SK&F 105657 can produce antitumor effects if a substantial reduction in tissue DHT is achieved. Such reduction in tissue DHT, secondary to inhibition of the tissue 5 alpha-reductase enzyme, appears to be more difficult to achieve in tumors than in the normal prostate. In order to achieve such a DHT reduction in tumor tissue, prostatic cancers with low 5 alpha-reductase activity could be treated with SK&F 105657 on a dose regimen that lowers serum DHT to surgical castration levels, while concomitantly inhibiting the already low tumor tissue 5 alpha-reductase activity.
authors.affiliation: Oncology Center, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Lamb
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Isaacs
mesh_terms: D058891:5-alpha Reductase Inhibitors; D000730:Androstadienes / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013196:Dihydrotestosterone / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008819:Mice, Nude; D009368:Neoplasm Transplantation; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013379:Substrate Specificity; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D058891:5-alpha Reductase Inhibitors; D000730:Androstadienes; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D013196:Dihydrotestosterone; C072547:epristeride