Gonex, etc.

[JesusA (imported)]

Those who have been reading the Archive for a while will recall our earlier discussions of Gonex, a one-shot castration injection. The Gonex Corporation is apparently NOT the only pharmeceutical company pursuing immunosuppressant drugs that both stop all production of sex hormones (both male and female) AND permanently immunize the body against ever making or using them again.

Gonex is apparently still working on a large-scale trial on dogs (for the veterninary trade) with human testing still some time away (for hormone dependant cancers, such as prostate and breast).

BioStar Corporation of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan has begun trials on cattle and is also conducting trials on cats (again for the veterinary trade). Chris Huxsoll, a researcher at the University of California at Davis who has conducted research on immunocastration is quoted as saying of the BioStar research, "We have also found that immunocastrated animals grow faster than other steers. With our immunization procedure, carcass quality and aggressive behaviour are similar between immunocastrated animals and steers (conventionally cut)."

YM Biosciences of Ontario, Canada has already begun human trials on prostate cancer patients as of November 7 of this year. Their drug, named Norelin, is expected to provide the same physiological effects as surgical castration within 60 days or less after the injection. They expect quick approval of the drug for use in cancer therapy.

The drugs all work on a mechanism that is universal to all mammals, so that any one of the drugs would work equally well on rats, cats, dogs, pigs, cattle, and humans.

[happousai (imported)]

YM Biosciences of Ontario, Canada has already begun human trials on prostate cancer patients as of November 7 of this year. Their drug, named Norelin, is expected to provide the same physiological effects as surgical castration within 60 days or less after the injection.

That's very exciting news! So that means they're actually testing it on humans now!

I wonder how long it will be before it becomes possible for people like us to order this from an overseas pharmacy such as Inhouse Pharmacy.

[happousai (imported)]

BTW, if someone is immunized against gonadotropin-releasing hormone, will this make hormone replacement therapy (whether testosterone or estrogen) ineffective too? Or does it just stop them from producing hormones on their own?

[Tomas (imported)]

BTW, if someone is immunized against gonadotropin-releasing hormone, will this make hormone replacement therapy (whether testosterone or estrogen) ineffective too? Or does it just stop them from producing hormones on their own?

To the best of my rather limited understanding of the whole chain, it would not block exogenous hormones, only the production of T or E by the gonads.

Here's something from Gonex on the subject:

Hormone sensitive cancers such as prostate and breast cancers depend on testosterone or estrogen for survival in many cases. Luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone analogue therapy is one of the most widely used hormonal therapies for advanced prostate cancer. Today's standard of drug therapy involves repeated injections. As such, surgical sterilization of either men or women is an important procedure in the treatment of human prostate or breast cancer. A single injection drug derived from Gonex technologies has the potential to replace monthly or quarterly depot administration of Lupron®, Zoladex® or similar compounds. A single injection of GnRH-conjugates can be used to replace surgical sterilization of men and women. In addition, ongoing research suggests there may be direct toxicity to cancer cells which aberrantly express GnRH receptors.

The Technology Platform

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is secreted by the brain. GnRH binds to specific receptors on cells (gonadotropes) in the pituitary gland and stimulates synthesis and secretion of two other hormones (LH and FSH), that in turn control the production of hormone secretion by the testes or ovaries. By linking GnRH to any of a number of protein synthesis inhibitors, it is possible to cause the death of the gonadotrope cells. This occurs when the gonadotropes internalize the GnRH conjugate as part of the normal process of receptor de-activation. When the number of gonadotrope cells is adequately reduced, there will be inadequate levels of LH or FSH produces to stimulate the gonads and the typical production of testosterone or estrogen will cease. Without these hormones, hormone sensitive cancers slow or stop their growth.

An old article (1998) about this is here: http://www.bcbr.com/may98/gonex2.htm which goes into some detail about projected cost, etc. Since the product would be iidentical for all mammals, I suspect that once available for veterinary use, it will promptly show up underground, also, fo human use.

Fascinating visions there, eh?

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