Male Baldness Drug May Prevent Prostate Cancer

Boston (HealthKnowItAll) - Proscar is the name of a drug that may actually help to reduce the risk of a man developing prostate cancer.

The drug is prescribed to men to help prevent baldness, but new guidelines issued by the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Urological Association state that the drug works at reducing prostate cancer risk.

Researchers came across this interesting drug finding by compiling data from 15 clinical trials featuring male participants over the age of 55.

Those men who took the drug, were more than 20% less likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer than were men taking a placebo.

Prostate cancer is one of the more serious forms of the disease, and is the second leading cause of cancer related death in men.

“Since age is the key risk factor for prostate cancer, I’d suggest that all men aged 55 and older talk to their doctor about the risks and benefits,” said the co-chair of the panel, Barnett S. Kramer.