Link Between Severe Acne and Prostate Cancer

(Ivanhoe Newswire) A higher risk of prostate cancer may be linked to severe acne.

New research from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore finds men who took tetracycline -- an antibiotic used to treat severe acne -- for four years or longer were 70 percent more likely to develop prostate cancer over a 10-year period than men who had taken the drug, or had taken it for a shorter time.

But the studys authors urge caution in interpreting their findings. They note the small number of participants who had used tetracycline for at least four years -- 0.5-percent of the 34,629 men in the study -- the indirect assessment of severe acne, and the fact that acne can have several causes.

The research looked at the link between severe acne and prostate cancer because recent studies found the acne-related bacterium Propionibacterium acnes in one third of prostate samples taken from men with prostate cancer. The tissue containing P. acnes was more likely to be inflamed. Inflammation is believed to be an important part of the development of prostate cancer.

Researchers say it is unlikely tetracycline itself would raise the risk of prostate cancer . They believe one possible explanation for the acne-prostate cancer link is that men who develop severe acne may be more likely to have stronger inflammatory immune responses when P. acnes goes into the prostate.

SOURCE: International Journal of Cancer, 2007;121:2688-2692

Prostate Specific Antigen

A prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test measures the amount of prostate-specific antigen in the blood. PSA is released into a man's blood by his prostate gland . Healthy men have low amounts of PSA in the blood. The amount of PSA in the blood normally increases as a man's prostate enlarges with age. PSA may increase as a result of an injury, a digital rectal exam , sexual activity ( ejaculation ), inflammation of the prostate gland ( prostatitis ), or prostate cancer .

Prostate cancer often grows very slowly, without causing major problems. Detecting prostate cancer early and treating it may prevent some health problems and reduce the risk of dying from the cancer. However, some treatments for prostate cancer can cause other problems, such as controlling urination (incontinence) or erection problems (erectile dysfunction). Some men may choose not to have a PSA test or treat prostate cancer if it is detected. For example, a man older than age 75 who has no bothersome symptoms of prostate cancer may choose not to treat the cancer if it is found, so he would not need a PSA test.

Biology of Prostate Specific Antigen

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is an androgen-regulated serine protease produced by both prostate epithelial cells and prostate cancer (PCa) and is the most commonly used serum marker for cancer . Prostate specific antigen (PSA) is a protein produced by the cells of the prostate gland. Prostate-specific antigen is present in small quantities in the serum of normal men, and is often elevated in the presence of prostate cancer and in other prostate disorders.

PSA is a major protein in semen , where its function is to cleave semenogelins in the seminal coagulum. Prostate Specific Antigen is secreted into prostatic ducts as an inactive 244–amino acid proenzyme (proPSA) that is activated by cleavage of seven N-terminal amino acids. PSA that enters the circulation intact is rapidly bound by protease inhibitors, primarily alpha1-antichymotrypsin, although a fraction is inactivated in the lumen by proteolysis and circulates as free PSA

A PSA blood test is the most effective test currently available for the early detection of prostate cancer. Higher than normal levels of PSA are associated with both localized and metastatic prostate cancer (CaP).

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA), also known as kallikrein III, seminin, semenogelase, γ-seminoprotein and P-30 antigen is a 34 kD glycoprotein manufactured almost exclusively by the prostate gland ; PSA is produced for the ejaculate where it liquifies the semen and allows sperm to swim freely. PSA is also believed to be instrumental in dissolving the cervical mucous cap, allowing the entry of sperm.

In addition to measuring human Prostate Specific Antigen in blood, tissue samples can be stained for the presence of PSA in order to determine the origin of maligant cells that have metastasized.

Source:
Steven P. Balk, Yoo-Joung Ko, Glenn J. Bubley
From the Cancer Biology Program, Hematology-Oncology Division, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center , Harvard Medical School , Boston, MA.