Nandeesha Hanumanthappa
Department of Biochemistry, Perunthalaiver Kamaraj Medical College and Research Institute, Puducherry, India.
Int Urol Nephrol. 2009;41(2):267-72. doi: 10.1007/s11255-008-9440-x. Epub 2008 Jul 30.
Prostate cancer, the most frequent non-cutaneous malignancy in aging men, is a growing medical problem, representing the second leading cause of male cancer deaths. Despite its high morbidity, the etiology of prostate cancer remains largely unknown. Several studies have documented hormonal imbalance, such as alteration in androgens and estrogens, obesity, family history and growth factors, as risk factors in the pathogenesis of prostate cancer. Insulin is a growth-promoting hormone that is reported to be involved in the pathogenesis of various malignancies, such as breast and bladder cancers. Insulin is known to increase cancer risk through its effect on cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. In the last decade, converging evidence from epidemiological and clinical studies suggests that the insulin is involved in the tumorigenesis and neoplastic growth of the prostate. Several mechanisms have been suggested to explain the possible causal relationship between insulin and prostate cancer, such as the sympathoexcitatory effect of insulin, alteration of sex hormone metabolism, insulin-like growth factor pathway, signal transduction mechanism and dyslipidemia. The present paper reviews relevant existing studies related to the role of insulin in the pathogenesis of prostate carcinoma.
前列腺癌是老年男性中最常见的非皮肤恶性肿瘤，是一个日益严重的医学问题，是男性癌症死亡的第二大主要原因。尽管其发病率很高，但前列腺癌的病因在很大程度上仍然未知。几项研究已将激素失衡（如雄激素和雌激素的改变）、肥胖、家族史和生长因子记录为前列腺癌发病机制中的危险因素。胰岛素是一种促进生长的激素，据报道它参与各种恶性肿瘤（如乳腺癌和膀胱癌）的发病机制。已知胰岛素通过其对细胞增殖、分化和凋亡的影响增加癌症风险。在过去十年中，来自流行病学和临床研究的越来越多的证据表明，胰岛素参与前列腺的肿瘤发生和肿瘤生长。已经提出了几种机制来解释胰岛素与前列腺癌之间可能的因果关系，如胰岛素的交感神经兴奋作用、性激素代谢改变、胰岛素样生长因子途径、信号转导机制和血脂异常。本文综述了与胰岛素在前列腺癌发病机制中的作用相关的现有研究。
