Natural compounds, antioxidant, and antiandrogens in the prevention of prostate cancer: in vivo evidences from murine models and human clinical studies.

Prostate cancer (PCa)is the most frequent malignant neoplasia in men. The number of cases has continuously increased over the past decades, partly due to the higher life expectancy. Additional factors are the high caloric diet and lack of physical exercise, typically seen in the Western countries. Notably, up to 40% of cancer incidents are preventable by consuming a healthy diet, regular physical activity, and maintenance of optimum body weight, and more than 20% by consuming vegetables and fruits. PCa represents an ideal candidate disease for chemoprevention. It is typically diagnosed in elderly men and even a modest delay in the neoplastic development could result in substantial reduction in the incidence of the clinically detectable disease.In this chapter we will review the history, the development, and the applications of some of the most common animal models of PCa,and we will discuss of the role of animal models in translational research.