Testosterone Replacement Therapy and Prostate Cancer
One in every four men over the age of 30 suffers from low testosterone. (ABC News) Millions of men are now using testosterone replacement therapy to help rebalance their low testosterone levels. There is a long-standing concern whether testosterone replacement therapy leads to prostate cancer, but studies are highly inconclusive. Initial concern of this alleged connection was first made popular through the work of Dr. Charles B. Huggins, a urologist at the University of Chicago. Dr. Huggins’ research earned him a Nobel Prize in 1966 in establishing a connection between the levels of testosterone and growth of prostate cancer. Unfortunately, the connection was generally accepted and not methodically questioned until recently.
Is there a connection between prostate cancer and testosterone?
Dr. Abraham Morgentaler, associate clinical professor of urology at Harvard Medical School and founder of Men’s Health in Boston, recently released his conclusions linking prostate cancer to men with low testosterone in his book Testosterone for Life: Recharge Your Sex Drive, Muscle Mass, Energy and Overall Health. Dr. Morgentaler shares that his clinical experience in the 1980s led him to first believe that high testosterone levels contributed to the growth of prostate cancer.
Dr. Morgentaler began conducting pre-TRT biopsies on patients to rule out prostate cancer before beginning testosterone treatment. He found that the rate of cancer in patients with low testosterone was significantly higher than that of patients with high testosterone. (LEF) Dr. Morgentaler’s research challenges standard assumptions connecting testosterone with prostate cancer, reversing the belief that low testosterone reduced risk of prostate cancer.
Learn more about TRT and prostate cancer
The Low T St. Louis team treats men of all ages who are suffering from low testosterone. We’ve created a FREE eBook available here for immediate download to help you learn more about low testosterone. If you have questions about prostate cancer and its connection to low testosterone, we would love to talk with you.