Hormone Therapy Could Be Risky for Some Prostate Cancer Patients

By: Madeline Ellis
Health News
Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers among men, affecting about one in six men in the United States. It is usually a very slow-growing disease, taking years to spread beyond the gland and pose a serious health threat. Once the cancer has spread beyond the prostate gland it can no longer be cured, but it can be slowed down by injecting the patient with drugs that block the supply of testosterone, a male hormone that directly stimulates the growth of both normal prostate tissue and prostate cancer cells. The treatment, known as hormone therapy or HT, can increase survival in more advanced cases of prostate cancer when used with surgery or radiation.
But the side effects are unpleasant: hot flashes, erectile dysfunction, bone loss, memory problems, fatigue and loss of interest in sex. And, according to a new study, it may be dangerous for some men with heart disease—doubling their risk of death.
Dr. Anthony D’Amico of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and colleagues studied 5,077 cases of men, average of about 70, diagnosed with localized or locally advanced prostate cancer between 1997 and 2006. All the men were treated with radiation therapy and 30 percent of them also took HT for an average of four months. Over a median follow-up of five years, 419 of the men died. Of those, 200 had no underlying cardiac conditions or risk factors, 176 had one coronary artery disease factor, such as high blood cholesterol, and 43 had suffered from heart failure or had a heart attack Read more...