Hormone therapy for prostate cancer does more harm than good

WEDNESDAY July 9, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study in today's Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that older men who have early stage prostate cancer should not be advised to receive hormone therapy, which can do more harm than good for older men.

The review study of almost 20,000 older men over 65 with early stage prostate cancer showed forgoing the treatment and having their condition monitored would be a better option for the patients.

Researchers from the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey found that although the hormone therapy did increase survival from advanced prostate cancer, it also increased the rate of deaths from other causes such as heart disease, negating any benefit.

Dr. Patrick Walsh, a urologist at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, was cited as saying studies have shown that the treatment itself kills a significant number of older men through the increased risk of cardiovascular disease and worsened diabetes.

The therapy that aims to suppress the male hormone testosterone helps patients with their cancer spreading beyond the prostate gland, but is ineffective at treating patients with early stage prostate cancer.

The severe adverse effects associated with the hormone therapy include cardiovascular disease, diabetes, bone fractures, fatigue, and other conditions, Grace Lu-Yao, lead author and an epidemiologist at Johnson and colleagues said.

Walsh said there has never been any evidence that hormonal treatments help older men with early stage disease. Rather it causes many side effects including weight gain, hot flashes, loss of muscle mass, and a decrease in mental acuity.

Older men with early stage prostate cancer are not advised to receive the treatment although the treatment helps those with advanced disease.

But why do urologists do it anyway?

Urologists reportedly have found that by treating patients with the useless drugs, they could make tens of thousands of dollars a year by just marking up the price they pay to obtain the hormone-suppressing medications.

Prostate cancer is diagnosed in 186,000 people each year in the United States and 8,600 are expected to die from the disease. The disease is the second leading cancer killer, behind only lung cancer.

However, the disease is often not as aggressive as many others. Many studies have shown that many alternative treatments may be used to effectively treat the disease.

By Sue Mueller, and edited by Heather Kelley.
Jul 9, 2008 - 11:22:23 PM