Genome-wide expression profiling of prostate specimens from a clinical trial of genistein supplementation prior to prostatectomy.. Homo sapiens

To identify molecular effects of genistein on mRNA levels in prostate cancer, we compared gene expression profiles of genistein-treated tumors with placebo-treated samples. There were 628 probes that reached nominally significant p-values. The genes that were differentially expressed between genistein and placebo samples were involved in angiogenesis, apoptosis, epithelial to mesenchymal transition, and tumor progression. Gene enrichment analysis suggested that PTEN and PDGF were activated, while MYC, beta-estradiol, glucocorticoid receptor NR3C1, and interferon-gamma were repressed in response to genistein treatment. These findings highlight the effects of genistein on global changes in gene expression in prostate cancer and its effects on molecular pathways involved in prostate tumorigenesis. Overall design: We analyzed prostate tissue samples from a clinical trial, which was a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind Phase 2 study on Norwegian patients with localized prostate cancer who received 30 mg synthetic genistein or placebo capsules daily for 3-6 weeks before radical prostatectomy. We investigated the gene expression levels of prostate tumor samples from 10 patients who received genistein and 10 patients who received placebo. Four adjacent normal prostate tissue samples were also analyzed.