Tyrosine kinase inhibitors and signal transduction modulators: Rationale and current status as chemopreventive agents for prostate cancer.

Cell growth and differentiation are processes intimately associated with carcinogenesis and regulated by tyrosine kinases and other signaling proteins. Identification of drugs that target signaling molecules is hampered by both the large number of targets and the complex nature of signaling cascades. Optimal development of chemopreventive agents must take into account affinity for the target, pharmacology, and safety profile of the agent. Validated biomarkers will allow the optimal implementation of chemopreventive trials. Directed epidemiologic studies can lead to the identification of lead compounds for chemoprevention, such as genistein. Therefore, agents targeted to pathways and molecules of known biological importance in the prostate hold the promise of clinical efficacy against prostate cancer in a chemopreventive setting.

Nutritional evaluation of the soy-whey milk analog La colina.

The milk analog La colina is a product which contains mainly whey, soy protein isolate and vegetable oil, designed for infants since one year, children, adolescents and adults of all ages. The concept behind this product is to offer an alternative to milk consumption which during the last decade has decreased dramatically in Venezuela mainly due to its high price and low availability. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to evaluate nutritionally this new product in order to determine if from a nutritional stand point it could represent a valid alternative to milk consumption. The results showed that La Colina offers the same amount of protein, energy, vitamin A, calcium, phosphorus and potassium as whole milk powder and more sodium, iron and zinc. In addition, a rat assay showed that the energy in these two products is equally available and even though the proteins in La colina are 3.9% less digestible, their quality determined by growth, PER or the nitrogen retained are excellent and identical to the quality of the proteins in milk. These results agreed with the theoretical chemical score of the proteins of this new product, which indicated that the amino acid profile of the mixture can fulfill the amino acid requirements of children, adolescents an adults. Both milk and La colina are products with a high fat content. The fat in this new product however, is vegetable oil and therefore it has a more convenient fatty acid profile than whole milk and about one third of its cholesterol. In short, these results showed that La Colina from a nutritional point of view is an excellent alternative to milk consumption.