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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A common treatment for prostate cancer could be causing more health problems than it is solving. The treatment blocks testosterone production, which is meant to keep prostate cancer from progressing but also increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
Men with prostate cancer have high five-year survival rates. However, researchers from Harvard Medical School in Cambridge, Mass., report men who are beating the cancer are more likely to die from non-cancer diseases than men who haven't been treated for prostate cancer.
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Injections with gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist drug, which works to block testosterone production, have been used to treat more advanced forms of prostate cancer that have spread, have now regularly prescribed to patients with locally advanced forms of the disease.
Study authors report men with local or regional prostate cancer receiving GnRH agonists had a 44-percent higher risk for diabetes and a 16-percent higher risk for coronary heart disease compared to men not receiving the treatment.
"Doctors should think twice about prescribing GnRH agonists in situations for which studies have not demonstrated improved survival until we better understand the risks of treatment," reports study co-author Matthew Smith, M.D., Ph.D.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2006;24:1-9
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