Author Interviews, BMJ, Prostate Cancer, Testosterone / 07.05.2014
Prostate Cancer: Low Testosterone Levels Linked to Aggressive Disease
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Ignacio F. San Francisco
Departamento de Urología, Facultad de Medicina,
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study?
Answer: Increasingly, men with low-risk prostate cancer are undergoing a close monitoring regimen called active surveillance, instead of moving forward immediately with treatment. However it is still unclear which men will develop evidence for worsening or more aggressive disease during active surveillance. In this study of 154 men with Gleason 6 prostate cancer followed for 38 months, we found that low levels of free testosterone were significantly associated with increased risk of developing more aggressive disease. We found no significant association with total testosterone concentrations, although there was a general trend towards increased risk with lower levels.
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