Men who start to lose hair at the age of 20 are more likely to develop prostate cancer in later life and might benefit from screening for the disease, according to a new study published online in the cancer journal, Annals of Oncology. The study set out to see if early-onset androgenic alopecia (which are directly connected to androgens such as testosterone) was associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer later in life. Androgens play a role in the development of both androgenic alopecia, commonly known as male pattern baldness, and prostate cancer. Testosterone, which is a very potent androgen or male hormone, is responsible for increased muscle mass, deepened voice and strong bones characteristic of the male gender. In addition, testosterone can contribute to aggression, libido, and growth of genitalia during puberty. Male hormones also have an effect on the liver and cholesterol; however, when it is converted into another androgen, it acts on the skin and hair follicles, and in some cases, producing male pattern baldness.
Men who start to lose hair at the age of 20 are more likely to develop prostate cancer in later life and might benefit from screening for the disease, according to a new study published online in the cancer journal, Annals of Oncology. The study set out to see if early-onset androgenic alopecia (which are directly connected to androgens such as testosterone) was associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer later in life. Androgens play a role in the development of both androgenic alopecia, commonly known as male pattern baldness, and prostate cancer. Testosterone, which is a very potent androgen or male hormone, is responsible for increased muscle mass, deepened voice and strong bones characteristic of the male gender. In addition, testosterone can contribute to aggression, libido, and growth of genitalia during puberty. Male hormones also have an effect on the liver and cholesterol; however, when it is converted into another androgen, it acts on the skin and hair follicles, and in some cases, producing male pattern baldness.
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Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize (spread) from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly the bones and lymph nodes. Prostate cancer may cause pain, difficulty in urinating, problems during sexual intercourse, or erectile dysfunction.
Prostate cancer tends to develop in men over the age of fifty and although it is one of the most prevalent types of cancer in men, many never have symptoms, undergo no therapy, and eventually die of other causes. This is because cancer of the prostate is, in most cases, slow-growing, symptom-free, and since men with the condition are older they often die of causes unrelated to the prostate cancer, such as heart/circulatory disease.
The French study compared 388 men being treated for prostate cancer with a control group of 281 healthy men and found that those with the disease were twice as likely as the healthy men to have started going bald when they were 20. However, if the men only started to lose their hair when they were 30 or 40, there was no difference in their risk of developing prostate cancer compared to the control group. The study found no association between early hair loss and an earlier diagnosis of prostate cancer, and nor was there any link between the pattern of hair loss and the development of cancer.
The study revealed that patients with prostate cancer were twice as likely to have androgenic alopecia at age 20. The pattern of hair loss was not a predictive factor for the development of cancer. There was no association between early-onset alopecia and an earlier diagnosis of prostate cancer or with the development of more aggressive tumors.
Until now there has been conflicting evidence about the link between balding and prostate cancer; this is the first study to suggest a link between going bald at the young age of 20 and the development of prostate cancer in later life.
Finasteride blocks the conversion of testosterone to an androgen called dihydrotestosterone, which is thought to cause hair loss, and the drug is used to treat the condition. It has also been shown to decrease the incidence of prostate cancer.
In the study men were to answer a questionnaire about their personal history of prostate cancer (if any) and to indicate on four pictures any balding patterns that they had at ages 20, 30 and 40. The pictures showed four stages of hair loss: no balding (stage I), frontal hair loss (receding hairline around the temples), vertex hair loss (a round bald patch at the top of the head), or a combination of both types of hair loss (stage IV). The men's doctors were also asked to provide a medical history of their patients, including any diagnosis of prostate cancer, age at diagnosis, stage of the disease and treatment. The study ran for 28 months. The men with prostate cancer were diagnosed with the disease between the ages of 46 and 84.
Dr Michael Yassa (M.D.), currently Assistant Professor at the University of Montreal (Montreal, Canada) and a radiation oncologist at the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital in Montreal, but who previously worked as a radiation oncology Fellow at the European Georges Pompidou Hospital, said: "There were only three men with stage III and none with stage IV hair loss at the age of 20, but the data revealed that any balding at stages II-IV (37 cases and 14 controls) was associated with double the risk of prostate cancer later in life. This trend was lost at ages 30 and 40.
More work needs to be done to better establish this potential link.
For further information: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-02/esfm-lha021411.php or http://annonc.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/01/25/annonc.mdq695.abstract
