NIH grant to study dietary supplement for prevention of prostate cancer
AMC Cancer Research Center, of Denver, Colorado, US, has been awarded a two-year grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study Nexrutine as a potent prostate cancer preventive agent and to determine the molecular mechanism that underlies its efficacy.
Nexrutine is a natural anti-inflammatory ingredient developed by Next Pharmaceuticals for use in dietary supplements. It is a patent-pending plant extract from the bark of Phellodendron trees commonly found in Asia.
Previous studies in the laboratory of Dr Pratap Kumar at AMC have demonstrated that Nexrutine inhibits the growth of prostate cancer cells through the modulation of key components of the cell survival-signalling pathway. Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer, other than skin cancer, among men in the US, and is second only to lung cancer as a cause of cancer-related death among men. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2003, some 220,900 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed and 28,900 men will die of the disease. The prostate cancer death rate is higher for African-American men than for any other racial or ethnic group. Currently, there are no effective strategies available for its management indicating a need for safe and effective preventive agents. 'Obtaining funding from NIH to evaluate the ability of this nutritive supplement using preclinical animal models is timely and we strongly believe that this work will make an important contribution towards the management of prostate cancer,' says Dr Kumar, principal investigator on this proposal.
'We are excited about Nexrutine as a new approach to maintaining a healthy prostate, in addition to its established safety and efficacy as a natural pain management ingredient,' said Bob Garrison, ceo of Next Pharmaceuticals. 'We believe Nexrutine can play a positive role in cutting health care costs and improving the quality of life.'
Nexrutine is a selective COX-2 inhibitor that is the leading natural product for inflammation and pain management. Next has demonstrated that Nexrutine does not cause gastrointestinal irritation, a common side effect of aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen.
In a two-week human study evaluating the efficacy of Nexrutine to ease soreness in joints and muscles, 72% of the participants said Nexrutine was effective and 86% of the participants said that it was gentle on the stomach. Nexrutine is currently under investigation in a placebo-controlled clinical trial to further establish its efficacy.