From bench to bedside: bipolar androgen therapy in a pilot clinical study.

Prostate cancer remains a leading cause of cancer death in Europe and the United States and is an emerging problem in Asia despite significant improvements in available treatments over the last few decades. Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) has been the core treatment of advance-staged disease since the discovery of prostate cancer's androgen dependence in 1941 by Huggins et al. [1] Options for initial medical treatment include gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues such as leuprolide (LHRH agonist) and degarelix (LHRH antagonist) and androgen receptor (AR) binding agents such as bicalutamide. Although most patients will initially respond to either surgical or medical castration, there is almost always progression to castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) necessitating treatment with more novel agents. [2] However, even drugs such as abiraterone and enzalutamide, two next-generation agents used commonly in metastatic CRPC, have failed to demonstrate persistent efficacy in most patients. [3] ,[4].

[Historical retrospective. Lipamin (Agomensin) and luteolipoid (Sistomensin). Animal experiments and preliminary clinical experiences]. / Der Historische Rückblick. Lipamin (Agomensin) und Luteolipoid (Sistomensin). Tierexperimente und die vermeintliche klinische Erfahrung.

In 1914 "Lipamin" and "Luteolipoid", two extracts of corpus luteum, were developed at the University Gynaecological Hospital in Erlangen, Bavaria. The process of their preparation, protected by patents, was exploited soon after that by Ciba, Basel, who named their products Agomensin and Sistomensin. The history of their development, their effects in animal experiments, as well as their early therapeutical application to women are reported. Special reference is made to the patent specifications and to the lectures held at meetings of the Bavarian Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics.