Abstract
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in men in the United States. There is a major need for less toxic but yet effective therapies to treat prostate cancer. Pomegranate fruit from the tree Punica granatum has been used for centuries for medicinal purposes and is described as “nature’s power fruit”. Recent research has shown that pomegranate juice (PJ) and/or pomegranate extracts (PE) significantly inhibit the growth of prostate cancer cells in culture. In preclinical murine models, PJ and/or PE inhibit growth and angiogenesis of prostate tumors. More recently, we have shown that three components of PJ, luteolin, ellagic acid and punicic acid together, have similar inhibitory effects on prostate cancer growth, angiogenesis and metastasis. Results from clinical trials are also promising. PJ and/or PE significantly prolonged the prostate specific antigen (PSA) doubling time in patients with prostate cancer. In this review we discuss data on the effects of PJ and PE on prostate cancer. We also discuss the effects of specific components of the pomegranate fruit and how they have been used to study the mechanisms involved in prostate cancer progression and their potential to be used in deterring prostate cancer metastasis.
Highlights
Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men in the UnitedStates
A considerable amount of evidence has shown that pomegranate juice (PJ) and/or pomegranate extracts (PE) are capable of suppressing the growth of human PCa cell lines in vitro
The findings discussed in this review show that pomegranate and its components interfere with multiple biological processes involved in tumor growth, angiogenesis and metastasis of PCa
Summary
Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men in the United. Novel androgen receptor (AR) antagonists such as enzalutamide (Xtandi®) and androgen biosynthesis inhibitors such as abiraterone (Zytiga®), have shown great promise as androgen deprivation therapies to prolong overall survival rate among patients with metastatic PCa [6,7] Another novel drug, Cabozantinib, is a potent dual inhibitor of the tyrosine kinases c-MET and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2), and has been shown to reduce or stabilize metastatic bone lesions in CRPC patients [8,9]. Cabozantinib, is a potent dual inhibitor of the tyrosine kinases c-MET and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2), and has been shown to reduce or stabilize metastatic bone lesions in CRPC patients [8,9] Pomegranate Juice (PJ) and/or Pomegranate Extracts (PE) Inhibit Prostate Cancer (PCa)
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