PC-SPES, an herbal compound manufactured by BotanicLab of California and sold as a nutritional supplement, has activity in the treatment of prostate cancer. Researchers at University of California San Francisco wondered if PC-SPES's estrogen content might protect men receiving hormonal blockade for prostate cancer against loss of bone mineral density. Bone density loss, or osteoporosis, is a common side effect of Lupron, Zoladex and other testosterone-blocking drugs for prostate cancer. The men took follow-up scans about eleven months after treatment began. After one year on PC-SPES none of these men lost any bone mineral density even though their testosterone levels fell alogn with their PSA's.
More study is under way.
If the bone integrity advantage of PC-SPES holds up in larger studies, it will need to be weighed against other side effects. A few patients have developed either face swelling, tongue swelling, difficulty swallowing, or possibly difficulty with breathing. There is nothing special that you need to do except to be aware of this, and should you develop any of these symptoms, please make sure that you get to an emergency room immediately. Two sets of results from a New Jersey study of the herbal mixture PC-SPES show that it is strongly positive for estrogen. My response to the PC SPES is not typical by any means.