I concur. Thanks for joining the discussion

We are currently doing some work with Mediwatch, who do PSA urine test for prostate cancer. We are looking at both blood and saliva options for testosterone and this awful cancer. We have a testosterone assay for sport (our main market), but I have to say that it is a very temperamental assay to say the least. [email protected]

Thanks . Low testoterone may be the actual triger of malignant transformation. Recent evidence that immunoassay is a poor assay of testosterone means that we hav not always been able to look at the effects of suboptimal testoterone

[email protected]

Prospective trial carried out in the USA did not confirm an increase of the rate of prostate cancer during testosterone replacement therapy in aging men. Certainly, diagnozed cancer is contraindication. I agree that moderate testosterone defficacy could provoke this disease appearance rather than androgen replacement in hypogonadic aging men.

Peter Moon, Richmond Va Us Too Volunteer Group Leader, Testosterone may have variable effect depending with whether you are trying to prevent cancer or if you are being treated for cancer with an an anti-androgen to block cancer growth. It does not take high level of testosterone in the blood to fill all the testosterone receptors on the cells so having more does not have more of an effect on cancer formation. But if you have low value of testosterone because it is being metabolised by alpha-reductase enzyme in your blood into Dihydrotestosterone(DHT), this metabolite grows the cancer 5 to 10 times faster. The use of Avodart or Proscar (precription drugs) blocks alpha reductase formation so they can inhibit or slow cancer and lower the PSA (which is also a growth promotor). It may also slow growth after recurrence or if used with intermittant anti-hormone therapy to prolong the time( # of years may double) that the therapy keeps it under control before another treatment must be tried. These prescriptions can block formation of DHT by 70% for Proscar and 90% for Avodart.

I have used avodart & proscar (along with anti-inflammatories and anti-oxidants) to keep my cancer only growing very slowly 18 years after surgery and 13 years after recurrence of a Gleason 8 cancer. The following paper got me started that showed Finasteride ( also called Proscar) slowed cancer if started when the PSA after surgery was less than 1.0 on reocurrence. The treatment was shown to work in 70% of patients in another study which is a high value for cancer treatments.

Andriole G, Lieber M, et al., Treatment with finasteride following radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer., Urology. 1995 Mar; V45(3): pp 491-7.

Now I am more focused on heart and brain health and many of the diet, exercise, & stress reduction life style changes that work against cancer help in these areas too.

Yes

The "growth effect" of testosteron is a longstanding myth going back to Huggins. Morgenthaler has clearly shown that testosteron has no effect on prostate cancer.

Testosterone has been found to be have deleterious effects on the prostate in case of benign prostatic hyperplasia and testosterone is also being used to induce tumors in mice for studying a mouse model of prostate cancer. Although the relation between BPH and prostate cancer is also debatable but still in many cases untreated BPH leads to prostate cancer in later stages.