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Review
. 2015 Oct 22:9:585.
doi: 10.3332/ecancer.2015.585. eCollection 2015.

Anti-androgenic effects of flavonols in prostate cancer

Tristan Boam  1
Affiliations
Review

Anti-androgenic effects of flavonols in prostate cancer

Tristan Boam. Ecancermedicalscience. .

Abstract

Dietary-derived agents, such as the flavonoids, are of particular interest for prostate cancer (PCa) chemoprevention as they may offer a favourable safety and side-effect profile. An agent that demonstrates action on the androgen receptor (AR) axis may have value for preventing or treating castrate-resistant PCa. Four main flavonols - quercetin, myricetin, kaempferol, and fisetin - have been demonstrated in laboratory studies to have chemopreventive action in both castrate-resistant and castrate-sensitive PCa models. Mechanisms of flavonol action on the AR axis in PCa have been proposed to be inhibition of the 5α-reductase enzymes, direct androgen competition, suppression of the AR complex and transactivation by coregulators such as c-Jun, Sp1, and the PI3K/Akt pathway. It is, however, still unclear with current levels of evidence whether AR axis-mediated effects can fully account for the flavonols' chemopreventive action.

Keywords: androgen; chemoprevention; fisetin; flavonoids; flavonols; kaempferol; myricetin; prostate cancer; quercetin.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Structure of the four main flavonols: (a) Quercetin, (b) Kaempferol, (c) Myricetin, (d) Fisetin and (e) Testosterone.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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