Men's health

Is your hair hiding prostate cancer?

Men who take a drug to reduce hair loss may also be reducing their levels of P.S.A., a marker for prostate cancer.

That may sound like a good thing, but while the drug lowers the level of P.S.A., it does not lower the risk of cancer. In fact, a new study reports, doctors could be misled into concluding that a patient's risk is lower than it really is.

Writing in The Lancet Oncology, researchers said the drug they looked at, finasteride, could halve the blood levels of P.S.A., or prostate-specific antigen. The drug is sold under the name Propecia when it is used to treat hair loss.

Because many men consider hair-loss medicines to be “lifestyle drugs,” said Dr. Claus Roehrborn of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, they often neglect to mention them to their doctors. But even if they do, it might not make a difference.

“The doctor may just write it down and not put two and two together,” Roehrborn said.

Doctors look at P.S.A. levels, and how they change, to determine whether a patient may have cancer. If the level is high enough, they take a biopsy.

Finasteride is used in larger doses for men who have swelling of the prostate, and is then known as Proscar. It was already known that these higher doses of finasteride lowered P.S.A. levels, and for prostate patients taking the drug, doctors are advised to double the P.S.A. level to have an accurate reading.

But the study found that even at dosages one-fifth of those used to treat the prostate, finasteride lowers P.S.A. levels. They based their findings on a review of more than 350 men taking it. On the other hand, if a patient is taking the drug and then stops without his doctor's knowing about it, his P.S.A. level may spike up, prompting unnecessary concern.

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