Prostate cancer affects 15% to 18% of men in North America but only 3% of cases result in death.
We’ve had less advances in prostate cancer in some respect because we no longer recommend the PSA test for most men in terms of trying to pick it up early. So perhaps there’s research that we can prevent cancer.
The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine did a systematic review of studies. They looked at all the clinical trials that have looked into medication drugs or nutritional intervention to prevent prostate cancer to see if there was anything we should be recommending to men to help prevent prostate cancer.
The only medication they came across that seemed to have any promise was what’s called five alpha-reductase inhibitors; common names for drugs we use to prevent prostate hypertrophy, to shrink the prostate. But the question here is, do these medicines help patients prevent prostate cancer?
The answer to that; maybe. The research showed that for patients who are of really high risk there could be some benefit, but there’s not enough evidence to say this is a good idea for all men to take to reduce their chances of getting prostate cancer.
If you had a close family member – father or brother, who had prostate cancer at an early age, this might be something you want to look into.
- Five Alpha-reductase Inhibitors (also called 5 Alpha-reductase Inhibitors; 5a-reductase Inhibitors; 5-ARIs)
- FDA information on 5-Alpha Reductase Inhibitor
- PSA Test
- Enlarged Prostate
- Prostate Cancer