« Statins pre-surgery may hinder advancement of prostate cancer | Home | High-fiber diet linked to reduced risk for COPD »

Analysis examines finasteride treatment recommendations.

By Jeremy Cockerill | February 19, 2010

Medscape (2/11, Nelson) reported that although finasteride (Proscar) appeared to reduce the risk of prostate cancer “by nearly 25%…in men 55 years and older,” a new paper appearing in the Journal of Clinical Oncology says that the finding doesn’t address the issue of “who to recommend the drug to.” According to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center researchers, “risk-group stratification for treatment with finasteride is ‘unlikely to be beneficial for preventing all prostate cancers detectable at biopsy.’” Yet, “it makes the most sense to offer finasteride…only to men with a PSA above 1.3 ng/mL or those with a PSA above 2 ng/mL.” And “whether you choose 2 or 1.3 ng/mL for your cut-point depends on your views about the relative benefits and harms of taking finasteride.”