Effect of prostate cancer on serum testosterone levels
October 27th, 2009 Posted in prostate cancer risksAndrogens are essential for prostatic growth and development, but also play a significant role in the pathogenesis of prostate disease. According to a new study at Chiba University, Japan, the traditional view that higher testosterone levels represent a risk factor for prostate cancer (PCa) appears to have little evidentiary support.
Some studies have described a relationship between lower testosterone levels and more advanced disease. Serum androgen levels, within a broad range, are thus suggested to show no association with PCa risk, whereas low rather than high serum testosterone levels have been found to be associated with advanced or high-grade disease at the time of PCa diagnosis.
Japan researchers have found that the principal prostatic androgen known as Dihydrotestosterone is transformed from testosterone by type 1 and type 2 5alpha-reductase, and therapeutic benefits may thus be potentially achieved through the inhibition of 5alpha-reductase.