Apoptotic activity in patient serum while on an acai juice product in the setting of a slowly rising PSA.

e16055 Background: For patients with a slowly rising PSA, the timing of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) initiation is highly debated given the long term side effects. In this setting, numerous nutraceuticals, or plant derivatives, such as grape seed, milk thistle, or pomegranate have been shown to slow the growth of prostate cancer (PCa). The acai berry has been shown to be rich in flavinoids with high antioxidant properties and was evaluated in this phase II single-institution study in asymptomatic PCa patients with a rising PSA. The primary endpoint was decline in PSA of 50% from baseline. While flavinoids have been shown to induce cell cycle arrest, understanding the actions of the mix of phytochemicals has not been rigorously undertaken for the acai berry. It has shown proapoptotic effects in vitro on leukemic cell lines, and decreased cytokine production correlated with subsequent anti-esophageal tumorogenesis effects in vivo. In order to better understand the mechanism of action of acai, patient ...