The receptor – PPAR-g – is expressed in breast, prostate, and colon epithelium, and administration of synthetic compounds that bind this receptor has been shown to inhibit the growth of prostate and colon cancer cells.
While investigating the pathology of pituitary tumors, Anthony Heaney and colleagues at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, California, found that PPAR-g is abundantly expressed in several types of human pituitary tumors, including both non-functioning and hormone-secreting tumors. The researchers went on to show that the PPAR-g–binding compounds rosiglitazone and troglitazone are potent inhibitors of pituitary tumor growth and hormone secretion. This suggests that these compounds may be suitable oral therapies for non-functioning pituitary tumors--for which no medical treatment currently exists--as well as hormone-secreting tumors that do not respond to existing treatments.
CONTACT:
Anthony P. Heaney
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles,California, USA
Phone: 310-423-6648
Fax: 310-423-0440
E-mail: HeaneyA@csmc.edu
View the PDF of this article at: http://www.jci.org/cgi/content/full/111/9/1381
Journal of Clinical Investigation