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Hair Restoration Home > Medical Treatments > Finasteride and Prostate Cancer

Finasteride and Prostate Cancer – How are they related?

The following information is taken from The National Newsletter from New York-Presbyterian Hospital Cancer Prevention Magazine, Issue #10, January 2008.

Finasteride, is a 5-alpha reductase inhibitor that prevents the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT).  In some instances, it has been used for the treatment and shrinkage of non-cancerous prostate tumors.

In a previously published study by the National Cancer Institute, it was believed that while finasteride (Proscar) reduced the overall incidence of prostate cancer by 25%, there was an increase of 25.5% of high-grade, aggressive tumors detected in these patients when compared to the placebo group.  This random study was conducted on a group of 18,000 men.  In part, because of this study and the relatively higher occurrences of aggressive tumors it detected, finasteride was not a favored preventative for prostate cancer.

However, this study did not conclude whether the increased incidence of high-grade tumors was caused by finasteride or if finasteride, in fact, aided in the detection of pre-existing high grade aggressive cells.

In two new studies, it is suggested that Finasteride aids in the detection of high-grade tumors, rather than being the cause.  These studies, recently published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, suggest that Finasteride does not increase the incidence of having high grade tumors, but acts as an aid in their detection.

According to a study conducted by Dr. Yael Cohen of Gamida Cell in Jerusalem, the increased incidence of prostate cancer detection in patients on Finasteride lies in the drugs ability to decrease the volume of the prostate.  As its size decreases, the likelihood of detecting high-grade cancerous cells through biopsy increases since there is less non-cancerous tissue present.

A second study, reported a team led by Dr. M. Scott Lucia of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, analyzed the cancerous prostates of patients who had them surgically removed and found that the relative increase in high-grade tumors in the finasteride group was less than originally believed, thus supporting the idea that better cancer detection contributed to the increase in high-grade disease noted in those treated with finasteride.

Although further research needs to be done, these studies support the safety of using finasteride in patients with BPH (prostate enlargement) and this data can be reasonably extrapolated to include the treatment of androgenetic hair loss.