[Oxidative stress in prostate hypertrophy and carcinogenesis]

Aging, significant impairment of the oxidation/reduction balance, infection, and inflammation are recognized risk factors of benign hyperplasia and prostate cancer. Chronic symptomatic and asymptomatic prostate inflammatory processes generate significantly elevated levels of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, and halogenated compounds. Prostate cancer patients showed significantly higher lipid peroxidation and lower antioxidant levels in peripheral blood than healthy controls, whereas patients with prostate hyperplasia did not show such symptoms. Oxidative/nitrosative/halogenative stress causes DNA modifications leading to genome instability that may initiate carcinogenesis; however, it was shown that oxidative damage alone is not sufficient to initiate this process. Peroxidation products induced by reactive oxygen and nitrogen species seem to take part in epigenetic mechanisms regulating genome activity. One of the most common changes occurring in more than 90% of all analyzed prostate cancers is the silencing of GSTP1 gene activity. The gene encodes glutathione transferase, an enzyme participating in detoxification processes. Prostate hyperplasia is often accompanied by chronic inflammation and such a relationship was not observed in prostate cancer. The participation of infection and inflammation in the development of hyperplasia is unquestionable and these factors probably also take part in initiating the early stages of prostate carcinogenesis. Thus it seems that therapeutic strategies that prevent genome oxidative damage in situations involving oxidative/nitrosative/halogenative stress, i.e. use of antioxidants, plant steroids, antibiotics, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, could help prevent carcinogenesis.