Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, both in the USA and Europe. Although incurable, metastatic disease can often be controlled for years with anti-androgen therapy. Once the disease becomes castrate resistant, the median survival is 18 months. There is growing evidence that the immune system, and in particular cytokines, play an important role in prostate cancer immunosurveillance and progression. Here, we have undertaken a clinical investigation of the role of two closely related cytokines, IL-4 and IL-13 in prostate cancer. In the largest series studied to date, we show that serum IL-4, but not IL-13 is significantly elevated in castrate resistant, compared to androgen sensitive disease. Notably however, serum IL-4 levels are also raised in patients with benign prostatic disease. Analysis of benign and malignant prostate tissue demonstrates that the source of IL-4 is epithelial cells rather than infiltrating leukocytes. Together, our data are consistent with a dual role for IL-4 in prostate cancer development. In benign disease, our data add to the evidence that IL-4 serves a protective role. By contrast, the data support a direct role for IL-4 in the progression of prostate cancer from androgen responsive, to advanced castrate-resistant disease.

The individual and his groupT is clear that behavior is affected both by stimulation from within and from without the individual. The external events that work upon behavior often are social in nature. Culture, socio-economic class, friendship groups -all profoundly modify what we do and what we refrain from doing. The kinds of experiences we have, the rewards and punishments we receive, the problems we face -these come to us shaped hy social customs and rules. It is necessary, then, to refer to social influences on complex behavior if we are to understand how much of our everyday behavior arises.In human associations, some behaviors will be discouraged while others are desired. Behavior controls are embodied in the standards, or norms, of the groups involved. To a greater or lesser extent, each of us conforms to various group norms. These social norms, according to Deutsch and Gerard (1955) have two functions. One, the normative, expresses what the group expects of its members. The other, the informational, influences the manner in which members perceive reality. Both functions can be served by a single norm.That humans conform to social norms is demonstrated by the early work of F. H. Allport (1934), who reasoned that behavior, in the absence of social pressure, will be marked by individual differences distributed in a normal curve. (See page 534 for a discussion of this term.) An instance of this kind is illustrated in Figure 23.1a: the driving of motorists approaching an intersection lacking signals varies in a manner resembling a normal distribution, provided we make allowances for the crudity of the measuring scale. When conformity to a norm takes place, the distribution changes to the type shown in Figure 23.1ba stop sign induces most drivers to reduce speed. A distribution of this type, called a CHAPTER