Joanna Cosgrove01.01.09
Researchers to Probe PGG-Prostate Cancer Link
Hormel Institute set to study the anti-cancer effect of Oriental medicinal herb compound.
By Joanna Cosgrove
Online Editor
But there is hope. Although one in six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime, just one man in 35 will actually die of it.
Austin, MN-based Hormel Institute, a research unit of the University of Minnesota and a research collaborative partner with Mayo Clinic, hopes to buoy that hope with the announcement of a new research study set to examine a promising herbal compound’s possible preventative effect on prostate cancer. The herbal compound, penta-galloyl glucose (also referred to as 1,2,3,4,6-penta-O-galloyl-beta-D-glucose—or PGG), is a compound present in some Oriental medicinal herbals. According to Junxuan (Johnny) Lu, PhD, professor and leader, Section of Cancer Biology, The Hormel Institute, a number of cell studies indicate the compound may have a strong cancer inhibitory effect.
Dr. Lu said the PGG-containing Oriental herbs to be studied are peony root and bark, Chinese gallnut, and geranium. “PGG is present in varying amounts in most plants and is a precursor to tannins,” he said. “This study will focus on the pure compound. If the pure compound is proven effective for cancer prevention, efforts can be directed toward finding out more about PGG-containing herbs.”
Because treatment options for advanced metastatic prostate cancer are few and afford very limited survival benefit to patients, Dr. Lu said his intention with this study is to find a way “to prevent prostate cancer from occurring all together or delay the cancer development process to make prostate cancer a manageable disease and improve the quality of life using naturally occurring and non-toxic chemo-preventive agents.”
The research will also include an international collaboration with a noted Oriental medicine expert, professor Sung-Hoon Kim of Kyung Hee University in Seoul, Korea., whom Dr. Lu credited with laying the foundation for this work.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded Dr. Lu and his research team a grant for $1 million, with an additional $525,000 added to that for supporting the costs associated with the research project. The award will cover the five-year study; the funding began in the first week of January. Dr. Lu said he hopes to commence the animal study portion of the research by February.
“Cell culture studies by us and others, as well as limited animals bearing grafted tumors provided us an indication that PGG might work to prevent cancer development from the very beginning, that is, the process of carcinogenesis,” he explained. “We will use a transgenic mouse model of primary prostate cancer development to test this prediction.
“If our research proves that indeed PGG is a safe and effective cancer preventive compound in animal models, we will further research to plan for human clinical trials,” Dr. Lu concluded. “The goal will be to benefit both prostate cancer patients and men’s health in general.”