LAST WEEK TODAY!

A summary of what was published on ProstateWarriors.com during the past week

Hi fellow warriors! This time, I welcome you with a picture of the Milky Way. August may still be a slow month, but there is always something new to discover. Stay strong and fight on!

As usual, we also have a podcast if you prefer to listen to the newsletter, you can find it HERE.
​For more details on everything I talk about here, you can always visit ProstateWarriors.com.​

Clinical Research & Review

• Fasting-Mimicking Diets: Differentiated Benefits of High vs. Low Protein​
  A recent randomized controlled trial published in Clinical Nutrition examined the effects of Fasting-Mimicking Diets (FMDs) in healthy adults. Participants followed a 7-day plant-based FMD, designed either as a low-protein/high-fat (LP-FMD) or high-protein/low-fat (HP-FMD) regimen. Both dietary approaches produced shared benefits, including improved cardiometabolic health, weight loss, fat reduction, lower fasting plasma glucose, and decreased IGF-1 levels. Yet, the two diets also revealed unique strengths.These findings highlight that tailoring the macronutrient composition of FMDs may allow for targeted health benefits depending on individual goals.
  ​HP-FMD was associated with reduced visceral fat, better heart rate variability, lower triglycerides, reduced saturated fatty acids, and greater gut microbiome diversity.
  ​LP-FMD led to higher serum hydroxybutyrate (ketone) levels, upregulation of autophagy-related genes such as BNIP3, and a trend toward increased expression of longevity-associated genes like SIRT1 and FOXO1.
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• Alpha DaRT: A Novel and Precise Radiation Therapy
  ​Alpha DaRT (Diffusing Alpha-Emitters Radiation Therapy) is a promising new technology for the treatment of prostate, bladder, and advanced solid tumors. This innovative therapy utilizes the strong cell-killing capability of alpha particles while overcoming their traditional limitation of extremely short tissue penetration range. Alpha DaRT achieves this through a unique delivery system: tiny seeds coated with the radioactive element radium-224 are directly implanted into tumors. As the radium decays, it emits alpha particles that travel only a few millimeters, ensuring that radiation damage is precisely confined to the tumor, thereby sparing surrounding healthy tissue. This precision is particularly valuable for cancers like prostate and bladder cancer, where critical adjacent structures such as the bladder wall, rectum, and urethra must be protected from radiation damage. By minimizing adverse effects, Alpha DaRT allows for potent radiotherapy, making it a key consideration for patients with localized, recurrent, or difficult-to-treat cancers. Clinical trials in prostate cancer patients, including those who have previously undergone radiation, indicate encouraging signs of both feasibility and safety. Furthermore, preclinical and early clinical evidence suggest that Alpha DaRT can not only halt or reverse tumor growth but also stimulate a robust immune response, potentially enhancing the effectiveness of immunotherapies, especially in patients who are resistant to current treatments.
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• Patient Prognosis in Oncology: The Role of Nutrition and Inflammation​
  New research has introduced a host-centered method of predicting outcomes in cancer patients by grouping individuals into five universal clusters based on their nutritional and inflammatory status. Unlike tumor-focused models, this approach provides prognostic insights that are independent of cancer type or metastatic stage. The study analyzed data from 1,370 oncology outpatients, collected prospectively during routine care and evaluated retrospectively. While not an interventional trial, the findings are highly relevant. They reveal that malnutrition and systemic inflammation, often overlooked, are powerful predictors of patient outcomes. Patients were categorized into groups such as “fit,” “older comorbid,” “dysmetabolic,” “digestive/liver injured,” and “critically impaired/inflamed,” with the latter two groups showing markedly worse prognoses. For example, “critically impaired/inflamed” patients faced nearly a three-fold increased risk of death. The study underscores that early management of nutrition and systemic inflammation could significantly improve survival and quality of life.
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• OMNIRAY: A Phase 1 Clinical Trial for LY4257496 in Advanced Cancers​
  The OMNIRAY trial, scheduled to launch in August 2025, will evaluate LY4257496, a novel radioligand therapy targeting the gastrin-releasing peptide receptor (GRPR) in advanced solid tumors, including castration-resistant prostate cancer. The trial aims to enroll about 421 patients across the United States and Canada, with participation lasting up to 36 weeks or until disease progression. Importantly, patients with prior exposure to Pluvicto will remain eligible.​
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• Statins and Improved Survival in Advanced Prostate Cancer Patients on Apalutamide​
  A pooled analysis of patient data from two major phase 3 randomized trials, SPARTAN and TITAN, has revealed a significant survival benefit for men with advanced prostate cancer who were taking statins while receiving apalutamide. Statin users showed a 42% lower risk of death, with three-year overall survival rates exceeding 80%, compared with their non-statin counterparts. This benefit was not consistently observed in patients on placebo. Although statin users had a higher incidence of serious cardiac events, likely reflecting pre-existing cardiovascular disease, researchers propose several plausible mechanisms for the observed benefit, including modulation of cancer cell signaling, inflammation, angiogenesis, and proliferation. As this was a retrospective analysis of existing phase 3 data, the findings are considered hypothesis-generating, reinforcing the need for prospective studies to confirm causality.
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And…that’s all folks! For today at least!
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Have a great weekend!

Max