Thread: No higher risk of cancer after 9 years of testosterone replacement therapy

05/24/13

SAN DIEGO – Testosterone replacement therapy is not associated with an increased risk of cancer or prostate cancer in men, based on results from a large study with a mean follow-up of nearly 9 years.

"We had hoped for these results," Dr. Michael L. Eisenberg said in an interview during a poster session at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association. "Certainly people are worried about testosterone in terms of prostate cancer development."

In a study conducted during his fellowship training in male reproductive medicine and microsurgery at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Dr. Eisenberg and his associates queried their database for all men with a serum testosterone level and then examined charts to determine testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) status. They limited their analysis to 750 men who lived in Texas and then linked the patient records to the Texas Cancer Registry to determine the incidence of cancer. Time at risk was measured from the date initiating TRT or from the first office visit for men not on TRT.

Dr. Michael L. Eisenberg

Of the 750 men, 333 (44%) were on TRT and 417 (56%) were not, reported Dr. Eisenberg, who is now director of male reproductive medicine and surgery at Stanford (Calif.) University Medical Center. Their mean age at study entry was 47 years, and they were followed for a mean of 8.7 years. Baseline testosterone levels were significantly lower in men on TRT compared with those who were not (a mean of 346 vs. 369 ng/dL, respectively; P less than 0.01).

Overall, 55 men developed cancer during the study period, including 22 men on TRT (6.6%) and 33 who were not on TRT (7.9%). When the researchers adjusted for age and year of evaluation, they found no significant difference in the risk of cancer based on TRT use (hazard ratio, 0.97).

Compared with the general Texas population, men on TRT had an age-adjusted standardized cancer incidence rate (SIR) of 1.5 while those not on TRT had a SIR of 1.7. When the researchers examined prostate cancer alone, they found that men on TRT had an age-adjusted SIR of 2.6 while those not on TRT had a SIR of 3.7. That particular finding is "very preliminary, but maybe there’s some possible protective effect of testosterone," said Dr. Eisenberg, who is also an assistant professor of urology at Stanford.

The study was funded by Endo Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Eisenberg said he had no relevant financial conflicts to disclose.

The findings are "very preliminary," that there may be some possible protective effect against prostate cancer by taking testosterone.

This certainly is a positive aspect of what many middle-aged and older men are partaking in so that they can improve upon their quality of life and enjoy their maturity while remaining strong and vibrant.

what i got out of this article is that trt does not induce cancer from the cancer researched in this study, so thats good to know for people who of older age considering trt, and may be susceptible to cancer. however what happens when you triple or quadruple that trt dose over the same period, that would be a very interesting study.

No matter which way I would not want to be without my TRT seriously changed my life for the better, so I would rather have fewer great years than longer shitty years anyway. Just saying if it do show a greater incidence of cancer which it does not.

It would be nice if articles like these made it out of the medical journals and into the "health" or "sports" section of the local newspapers.

great post!