HRT patches 'treat prostate cancer'

Oestrogen skin patches used to control menopausal symptoms in women may provide a safe alternative therapy for prostate cancer, research has shown.

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) patches prevent the growth of prostate tumours by drastically lowering levels of testosterone.

Prostate cancer that is starting to spread is known to be fuelled by the male hormone.

Current treatments include injected drugs called LHRH agonists, such as Zoladex, which interfere with testosterone production, resulting in chemical castration but they can have serious long-term side effects, including the bone thinning disease osteoporosis and diabetes.

Oestrogen - the female sex hormone - taken in a pill form also blocks testosterone production, but can lead to dangerous blood clots and strokes.

The new findings, from a Phase II trial involving more than 250 men with locally advanced or spreading prostate cancer, show that the patches lower testosterone as effectively as LHRH agonists.

Importantly, they do not cause the same blood clotting problems seen with oestrogen tablets. Nor do they have the side effects associated with LHRH agonist injections.

Lead researcher Dr Ruth Langley, from the Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit in London, said: "These promising new findings suggest that we might be able to use oestrogen patches or an oestrogen gel to treat prostate cancer without significantly increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke.

"We think the reason oral oestrogen caused these side effects is because the oestrogen reached the liver in high concentrations straight from the stomach, whereas if the oestrogen can be absorbed through the skin the effect on the liver is avoided."

The study, funded by Cancer Research UK, appears in the latest edition of the medical journal The Lancet Oncology.

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HRT patches 'treat prostate cancer'