Betamethasone may improve radiation therapy outcomes for prostate cancer

The common steroid betamethasone can be used to reduce the side effects of radiation therapy for prostate cancer, according to a new study published by researchers at the University of Kentucky's Markey Cancer Cente.

The research was published June 8 in the International Journal of Molecular Scienc.

The laboratory study, led by Dr Luksana Chaiswing, Assistant Professor of Toxicology and Cancer Biology at the UK Medical School, is the first to demonstrate that betamethasone protects normal prostate cells from damage caused by radiation therapy, while making cancer cells more susceptible to treatmen.

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men in the United State.

"There is an urgent need for new therapies that both protect normal tissue from damage and improve the effectiveness of radiation therapy," said Chaiswin.

The team screened about 700 FDA-approved drugs, including protecting non-cancer cells from radiation therapy-induced cytotoxicity, killing prostate cancer cells, and increasing hydrogen peroxide levels in cancer and non-cancer cell.

Betamethasone, a corticosteroid approved for the treatment of inflammatory and hematopoietic cancers, is one of the top five drugs with all the expected propertie.

Betamethasone increases the amount of hydrogen peroxide, which activates a protective protein called "RelB" in normal, noncancerous prostate cell.

"The results of this project could lead to a new anti-cancer therapy that improves the efficacy of radiation therapy by sensitizing tumor tissue to radiation, while protecting normal tissue from radiation-induced side effects, which may improve cancer survival," Chaiswing sai.