Can This Arthritis Drug Stop Prostate Cancer?

If you have prostate cancer and arthritis, you might not be as unlucky as it seems.

A new study shows that one of the most popular arthritis drugs is also a potent anti-prostate cancer drug.

And if you have prostate cancer and don’t have arthritis, don’t feel too bad. Natural remedies can do the same thing the drug does.

The authors of the new study were looking at a specific enzyme in our cells called cyclooxygenase-2, or COX-2 for short. COX-2 metabolizes some of the fats that we eat into substances that create inflammation. Now here’s the thing. Cancer cells thrive when surrounded by inflammation. So the more COX-2 that’s present, the happier a cancer is. COX-2's action is so significant that it promotes cancer growth in three ways.

First, COX-2 inhibits apoptosis. As you may know, apoptosis is the ten-dollar word for programmed cell death. All cells in our body are programmed to die after a while and be replaced by new cells. This process controls cell growth. So when COX-2 inhibits apoptosis, cells can continue to grow without control. Uncontrolled cell growth results in cancer. So COX-2 not only stimulates cancers to develop, it also speeds up their growth rate. And that’s not all that COX-2 is guilty of.

As cancers grow larger, they need a greater blood supply to bring in the sugar and other nutrients that they need to maintain their unrestrained growth. To get more blood flow, cancers need angiogenesis. Literally, angiogenesis means the creation of new blood vessels. This process happens throughout the body, and here’s the point. COX-2 stimulates angiogenesis. And by doing that, COX-2 further promotes cancer growth.

Lastly, COX-2 increases the tendency of cancer cells to spread throughout the body in a process called metastasis. As you may know, cancers are only a problem when they grow or metastasize. If you have a way to stop the growth or metastasis of a cancer, then you basically have a very effective treatment for it. That’s exactly what a commonly used arthritis drug does.

Celecoxib, also known by the trade name Celebrex, inhibits COX-2. It’s used for arthritis because arthritis is caused by inflammation, and anything that inhibits inflammation is a good remedy for arthritis. But another effect of inhibiting COX-2 is that it could theoretically also inhibit cancer. And that’s why researchers recently published the results of a fascinating experiment using celecoxib on a group of men with prostate cancer. Here are the details.

The researchers picked 45 men with prostate cancers. All of the cancers were limited to the prostate and had not spread. All of the men had biopsies of their prostates to confirm the presence of cancer. The researchers took biopsy samples and measured four variables.

First, they calculated the cancer growth rate. Then they measured the amount of angiogenesis that was present. They also determined the amount of the various factors in the cancers that promote angiogenesis such as VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor), KDR (kinase domain receptor), and HIF-1 (hypoxia inducible factor). And finally, they measured how much apoptosis was present in the cancers. Then they gave half of the men celecoxib (400 mg twice a day). They gave the other half a placebo. After four weeks of treatment, all of the men had their prostates removed and the researchers examined the prostates a second time to see what the effect of the celecoxib was. I think you will be impressed by the results.

Celecoxib had a distinct anti-cancer effect. Not only did it decrease the growth rate of the cancers, it also decreased angiogenesis and HIF-1, while at the same time increasing apoptosis. Every single anti-cancer measurement was improved. And all of the improvements were statistically valid. In the authors’ words, “In this pilot study, a four-week regimen of celecoxib resulted in measurable biological effects in prostate cancer tissue.” Here are some thoughts about this remarkable study.

First of all, the 400 mg twice a day dose of celecoxib was high. And the higher the dose, the more likely there will be some side effects. However, the truth is that some patients do very well with celecoxib and don’t develop any side effects at all. And considering the toxicity of other forms of prostate cancer therapy, the risks of celecoxib may well be worth it in many cases. The other thought is that there are several effective, natural COX-2 inhibitors that might work just as well as the celecoxib. At least they do in arthritis cases.

One is the herb curcumin. There are close to 3,000 studies showing that curcumin has anti-cancer activity. Curcumin is a potent inhibitor of COX-2. Other herbs that have anti-COX-2 effects are ginger, boswellia (also known as frankincense), hops, and willow bark. As you will notice, these are very common remedies for arthritis. In fact, in some studies of arthritis, these herbs are as effective as or even better than celecoxib. So it makes you wonder if they won’t also have an anti-cancer effect.

In one study, researchers looked at 198 patients with osteoarthritis of the knees. They gave half of them celecoxib and the other half a combination of six Chinese herbs called GCSB-5. The study went on for three months. At the end of the study the anti-inflammatory effect of the herbal combination was equal to that of the drug.

Another study compared celecoxib (100 mg twice a day) to a blend of curcumin and boswellia extracts (500 mg twice a day). The study went on for four months. The results not only showed the herbs to be as good as the drug, but the herbal combination was actually superior to the drug in relieving pain, increasing walking distance, and decreasing joint line tenderness scores. At the end of the study, 93% of the patients taking the herbs could walk more than 1,000 meters, versus 86% in the drug group. And 93% of the herbal group reported improvement in or elimination of pain, versus 79% of the drug group. Not bad for a remedy that was also completely absent of any significant side effects. Both of these studies show that the anti-COX-2 effects of herbs can be substantial.

So what should you do if you have prostate cancer? One very simple and safe thing to do would be to try some of the herbal combinations I mentioned above. Any supplement with a healthy dose of boswellia, curcumin, and willow bark should do. It will also be a pretty good candidate for having a COX-2 inhibiting effect on prostate cancers as well. And for any man out there who has metastatic prostate cancer with bone pain, if you’re going to need a pain pill, talk with your doctor about taking 200-400 mg of celecoxib twice a day if the herbs don’t work well enough for you.

Yours for better health,

Frank Shallenberger, MD