Drug Reduces Prostate Cancer Risk In Middle Age Men

Prostate cancer, Though established as a slow growing, slow spreading type of malignancy, looms as a constant threat among middle aged and elderly men.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Urological Asociation stated that talking finasteride, a drug that is already widely used to treat male pattern baldness and bening prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) can reduce the risk developing prostate cancer by as much as 25-30 percent.
The recommendation was based from a large study of 18.882 healthy men which showed that those taking finasteride had a lower risk of developing protate cancer that those taking placebo.
Expert Doctor, chief of the prostate and urologic cancer research froup in the Division of Cancer Prevention at National Cancer Institute, said the giudelines should encourage men who are regularly getting screened for prostatecancer to talk with thier doctors and learn how finasteride might benefit them
Finasteride is a synthetic antiandrogen which acts by inhibiting type II 5-alpha reductase, the enzyme that converts testosterone to dihydrostestosterone. It is used as a treatment in BPH in low doses, and prostate cancer in higher doses. It is alsi indicated for use in combination with doxazosin
therapy to reduce the risk for symptomatic progression of BPH. Additionality, it is registered in many countries for androgenetic alopedia (male-pattern baldness).
Finasteride was approved initially in 1992 as Proscar, a treatment for prostate enlargement, but the sponsor had sudied 1mg of finasteride and demonstrated hair growth male pattern hair loss. On December 22 1997, the U.S Fodd and Drug Administration approved finasteride to treat male pattern hair loss.