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HORMONES -
DOES TESTOSTERONE CAUSE CANCER?

Testosterone Therapy: No Prostate Cancer Link
  Contrary to Belief, Testosterone Doesn't Raise Risk of Prostate Cancer, Study Shows 

By Jeanie Lerche Davis WebMD Medical News 
Reviewed By Michael Smith, MD on Thursday, January 15, 2004

Comments from Larry

Jan. 15, 2004 -- One of doctors' greatest fears about testosterone therapy is that it may cause prostate cancer. But a new study shows that it won't increase a man's risk of prostate cancer -- even if he has precancerous prostate cells.

The study sheds light on the risks of testosterone therapy, which is used in men with low testosterone levels to help restore a man's sexual function, mood, memory, even aspects of his physique -- muscle mass, strength, body fat, bone density.

However, doctors have been concerned that testosterone therapy could trigger growth of prostate cancer -- especially if a man already has precancerous cells in his prostate, writes researcher Ernani Rhoden, urologist with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School.

Rhoden's paper appears in the December 2003 Journal of Urology.

His study involved 20 men who had precancerous cells in the prostate and 55 men who had no signs of these cells.

After one year of testosterone therapy, Rhoden's researchers looked at prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels for all the men. Rising PSA levels are an indication that a man may have prostate cancer.

The PSAs were very similar for both groups -- both before and after testosterone therapy, he reports.

These results indicate that testosterone therapy does not lead to prostate cancer and that men with a history of precancerous prostate cells may be able to safely take testosterone therapy, Rhoden writes.

SOURCE: Rhoden, E. Journal of Urology, January 2004; vol 170: pp 2348-2351.

© 2003 WebMD Inc. All rights reserved.

Larry's Comments -(Originally appeared in the March 03, 2004 issue of The Compounder Newsletter.)

Does Testosterone CAUSE Prostate Cancer?

I don't know how it all started - but there is a long-standing BELIEF that testosterone is somehow responsible for prostate cancer.  Men who have been diagnosed with this kind of cancer are warned to avoid testosterone altogether.   Sometimes drugs are used to reduce the levels of testosterone.  And, the ultimate insane insult - some men have been castrated to lower the danger from their prostate cancer.

Over the years I have commented on this whole stupid idea.  There's one basic fact that all the scientific geniuses seem to ignore.  Men get prostate cancer when they're older - a time when their testosterone levels are declining.  They DON'T get prostate cancer when they're young (in their teens, twenties or thirties).  Oh, sure, there are documented cases of prostate cancer in young men - but they are so rare that to consider it normal is truly bizarre.  When testosterone levels are their highest the prostate cancer rate is at the absolute lowest - practically zero.

It may be that testosterone is somehow protective of prostate tissue - or that in normal amounts it balances some of the negative effects of estrogen (after all, estrogen is a major cause of cancer).  While it may not be a CURE for prostate cancer, testosterone really should not be viewed as as the villain. 

In our 21st century world cancer is rampant and I attribute it to the overall imbalance of estrogen (and estrogen-like substances).  I'd guess that a majority of people are estrogen dominant these days - they ought to have their estrogen levels balanced with physiologic doses of progesterone.  That's the first step to hormone health.  Next, I think people ought to learn their levels of hormones - by a saliva test of course!  Then if there are any deficiencies (and associated symptoms) steps should be taken to obtain hormone supplements.

Living longer and being healthy are possible.  If prostate cancer strikes it can be treated - often without radiation or surgery.  Dr. John R. Lee once told me that a great treatment for prostate cancer is a combination of progesterone and testosterone - in a transdermal cream.  "Everyone" in the medical community said he was nuts (or something that means that but sounds more polite), because "everybody knows" that testosterone can make prostate cancer worse).  Well, well, well (no, not three holes in the ground!).  It seems that somebody has actually decided to find out if testosterone can cause prostate cancer.  The answer?  Nope, it sure doesn't look like its dangerous at all.  The above study was recently reported on by WebMD.