New developments in testosterone therapy are summarized here by internationally renowned experts. They review both basic and clinical knowledge in fourteen chapters. The book begins with the biochemistry of testosterone, its biosynthesis, metabolism and mechanisms of action in target organs. Three chapters deal with specific aspects of testosterone action, namely its role in spermatogenesis, its psychotropic effects and its effects on bones. Syndromes caused by androgen resistance are described in order to highlight the importance of properly functioning enzymes and receptors in the target organs. Causes and symptoms of male hypogonadism, the major indication for testosterone treatment, are described. Five chapters are devoted to the pharmacology, pharmacokinetics and clinical uses and abuses of testosterone preparations. The new transdermal testosterone application is described in detail. Side effects of testosterone treatment are reviewed. The possible role of androgens in the development of prostatic hypertrophy and carcinoma is discussed extensively since this question is of major concern to the clinician.

Androgens are critical regulators of prostate differentiation and function, as well as prostate cancer growth and survival. Therefore, androgen ablation is the preferred systemic treatment for disseminated prostate cancer. Androgen action is exerted in target tissues via binding the androgen receptor (AR), a nuclear receptor transcription factor. Historically, the gene expression program mediated by the AR has been poorly understood. However, recent gene expression profiling and more traditional single-gene characterization studies have revealed many androgen-regulated genes that are important mediators of androgen action in both normal and malignant prostate tissue. This book will focus on the androgen-regulated gene expression program, and examine how recently identified androgen-regulated genes are likely to contribute to the development and progression of prostate cancer. Recent studies that have attempted to unravel how these genes are deregulated in androgen depletion independent prostate cancer will be included

Praise for Androgen Deprivation Therapy: "To my knowledge [this] is the only book written in plain language (no medical jargon) explaining what’s happening during ADT, and detailing how to limit and often solve most associated side effects. It should be read by every man undergoing ADT, as well as family members and also healthcare providers. They will find all the details they need to get the most from this treatment..." Prof. N. Mottet, MD, PhD, Urologist, Medical Oncologist, Head of the Prostate Cancer Guidelines panel of the European Association of Urology Androgen Deprivation Therapy is the only guide written exclusively about the side effects of hormone therapy. The authors have collaborated with the European Association of Urology to produce this specially revised new edition to serve men affected by ADT across the globe. This comprehensive workbook for prostate cancer patients and their loved ones is filled with practical advice from experts in the field. The book covers a wealth of strategies to help men cope with ADT and maintain a good quality of life while on this treatment. It is not only an informational manual, but a guide for both patients and partners about ways to make changes in their lives that can keep them healthy and positive when the patient is on ADT. New to this Edition: Updates on the physical side effects of ADT and management strategies Expanded information on exercise and nutrition for men diagnosed with prostate cancer Updates on the primary drugs used to treat prostate cancer and extensive drug tables with common brand names worldwide Revisions throughout based on critical feedback from international medical experts in the field of prostate cancer and related disciplines Exercises, activities, worksheets, and other tools to promote discussion and inspire behavioural changes that can reduce the burden of ADT Officially endorsed by the European Association of Urology

This volume focuses on our current understanding of the molecular underpinnings of prostate cancer and their potential application for precision medicine approaches. The emergence and applications of new technologies has allowed for a rapid expansion of our understanding of the molecular basis of prostate cancer and has revealed a remarkable genetic heterogeneity that may underlie the clinically variable behavior of the disease. The book consists of five sections which provide insight about the following: (1) General principles; (2) Molecular signatures of primary prostate cancer; (3) Molecular signatures of advanced prostate cancer; (4) Key molecular pathways in prostate cancer development and progression; (5) and Precision medicine approach: Diagnosis, treatment, prognosis. Precision Molecular Pathology of Prostate Cancer is an important resource for the practicing oncologist, urologist, and pathologist, and will also be useful for researchers in the prostate cancer community.

Androgens play a critical role in the development and maintenance of the male reproductive system and affect important physiological processes and pathological conditions, including the homeostasis of the normal prostate and prostate cancer. Androgen Action: Methods and Protocols is designed to provide a tool box to study various phases of androgen action, from its entry to the cell to the phenotypic response that the cell mounts, with up-to-date techniques for biochemists, molecular biologists, cell biologists, geneticists, and pathologists. The volume opens with a brief review of the research history on androgen action and prostate carcinogenesis, followed by chapters that cover state-of-the-art methods to determine androgen levels in biological tissues and fluids, experimental procedures to study the various aspects of androgen receptor activity, and methodology to study salient examples of interactions between androgen signalling and other major signalling pathways in cells. Written in the successful Methods in Molecular BiologyTM series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible protocols, and notes on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and easily accessible, Androgen Action: Methods and Protocols provides a comprehensive overview of, and practical guidance on, the diverse methodologies that are propelling androgen action research forward, both for normal physiology as well as in disease states.

Intracellular Receptors: New Instruments for a Symphony of Signals In the late eighteenth century, it was proposed on theoretical grounds that each of the body's organs, beginning with the brain, must be "a factory and laboratory of a specific humor which it returns to the blood", and that these circulating signals "are indispensable for the life of the whole" (Bordeu 1775). During the nineteenth cen tury, some remarkable physiological experiments revealed the actions of humoral factors that affected the for and function of multiple tissues, organs and organ sys tems within the body (Berthold 1849); much later, the chemical and molecular na ture of some of those factors was determined. Against this deep historical backdrop of the founding studies of intercellular signaling, molecular biology sprang into existence a mere forty years ago, rooted in the revelation of regulable gene expression in bacteria. But contemporaneous with those classical analyses of transcriptional regulation of the lactose operon, the mod em era of signal transduction was inaugurated by the identification of cAMP as a second messenger -- an intracellular mediator of hormonal activation of glycogen catabolism (Sutherland and RaIl 1960). Later in that same decade, it emerged that cAMP is a critical signal not only in metazoans, but even in bacteria, where it serves an analogous function as a critical switch that activates expression of genes re quired for catabolism of complex carbon sources, including those of the lactose operon.