Prostate Cancer May Up Risk for Diseases
Posted on: Wednesday, 20 September 2006, 09:01 CDT
Men with prostate cancer have high five-year survival rates, but they also have higher rates of non-cancer mortality, finds a U.S. study.
Study author Dr. Nancy Keating of Harvard Medical School says that the principal systemic therapy for prostate cancer involves blocking testosterone production -- either by removal of the testes or, more commonly, by regular injections of a gonadotropin-releasing hormone, or GnRH. GnRH agonists are the main therapy for metastatic prostate cancer and may also improve survival for some men with locally advanced cancers.
Our study found that men with local or regional prostate cancer receiving a GnRH agonist had a 44 percent higher risk of developing diabetes and a 16 percent higher risk of developing coronary heart disease than men who were not receiving hormone therapy, says Keating, who is also a physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Given the number of men receiving GnRH agonists, often for many months or years, these increased risks can have important implications for the health of prostate-cancer survivors, says Keating.
Additional studies are needed to fully understand the biological mechanisms responsible for these increased risks, according to the study published in Clinical Oncology.
Source: United Press International
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