16 Mar Taking Testosterone Doesn’t Increase Prostate Cancer Risk
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Stacy Loeb
Dr. Stacy Loeb MD Msc
Assistant Professor of Urology and Population Health
New York University Langone Medical Center
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: The association between exposure to testosterone replacement therapy and prostate cancer risk is controversial. The purpose of our study was to examine this issue using national registries from Sweden, with complete records on prescription medications and prostate cancer diagnoses. Overall, we found no association between testosterone use and overall prostate cancer risk. There was an early increase in favorable cancers which is likely due to a detection bias, but long-term users actually had a significantly reduced risk of aggressive disease.
MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?
Response: Based on our findings, it appears safe from a prostate cancer perspective to give testosterone replacement therapy to hypogonadal men.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Response: Previous studies have shown more aggressive prostate cancers in hypogonadal men, and we found a reduced risk of aggressive prostate cancer among long-term users of testosterone therapy. Further research is warranted to study whether maintaining normal or high levels of testosterone keeps prostate cells in a more differentiated state.
MedicalResearch.com: Is there anything else you would like to add?
Response: My disclosures are reimbursed travel from Minomic and Boehringer Ingelheim, honoraria for lectures from Boehringer Ingelheim and MDx Health, and consulting for Lilly (unrelated to current study).
MedicalResearch.com: Thank you for your contribution to the MedicalResearch.com community.
Citation:
Testosterone Replacement Therapy and Risk of Favorable and Aggressive Prostate Cancer
Stacy Loeb, Yasin Folkvaljon, Jan-Erik Damber, Joseph Alukal, Mats Lambe, and Pär Stattin
Journal of Clinical Oncology 0
DOI: 10.1200/JCO.2016.69.5304 Journal of Clinical Oncology – published online before print March 13, 2017
Note: Content is Not intended as medical advice. Please consult your health care provider regarding your specific medical condition and questions.
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Last Updated on October 18, 2017 by Marie Benz MD FAAD