June 13, 2002 Science is going to the dogs – literally – to
clear up some of the mystery surrounding prostate cancer and how
it spreads. When some of the most common cancers spread, they
often head for the bones. Once there, they typically eat away
the good, strong tissue, leaving a soft and crumbly structure in
their wake. It is a painful and debilitating condition. But
prostate cancer is different. Unlike any other cancer, when
prostate cancer spreads to the bones – as it does in 80 percent
of all advanced cases – it actually stimulates new bone to grow,
not erodes it. “We’ve really been stumped on how to study this,”
says Dr. Tom Rosol, a veterinarian in The Ohio State
University’s Comprehensive Cancer Center. Scientists have
managed to develop useful animal models for many cancers to help
study the cause and treatment of the disease, but it’s been
difficult to come up with one to study prostate cancer. “That’s
because every time we put human prostate cancer cells in
animals, they stop acting like they do