Prostate cancer treatment may raise health risk

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Hormone treatment for prostate cancer increases men's risk of diabetes and heart disease.
Blocking testosterone production by the use of GnRH agonists is a common treatment for prostate cancer. It has benefit for those with advanced cancer but is also used to treat men with less advanced local or regional cancer. For this latter group, this hormone treatment may not be the best option, because it increases the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Researchers at Harvard Medical School looked at the impact of hormone therapy in a group of 73,000 men with local or regional prostate cancer and aged 66 or more. Those on GnRH agonists had a 44 per cent higher risk of diabetes and a 16 per cent higher risk of heart disease compared to those not on hormone therapy. The findings suggest that doctors should consider the prescription of these drugs carefully in men who have less advanced prostate cancer. Of course, men can be counseled about lifestyle changes which can help them avoid diabetes and heart disease if they do need to take these drugs for prostate cancer.

Source
Journal of Clinical Oncology 20th September 2006

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