Finasteride & Prostate Cancer

In a recent article in the Journal of Urology, an article was published which addressed the relationship between prostate cancer and the drug finasteride. The authors came out of various universities (Dr. G. Andriole was the lead author, Ref: J Urol. 2005 Dec;174(6):2098-2104)

Simply stated, what I read suggested to me that they reviewed the 7 year Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial that was finished a few years ago and published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The conclusions of the original study showed that this drug (finasteride 5mgs) reduced the appearance of prostate cancer by a statistically significant degree. There were some questions about the ‘control’ group when compared to those that actually received the drug. These authors suggested that the difference in the severity of the malignancies that were identified between the two groups may not have been real, but rather they were the results of patient selection criteria based upon blood testing, amongst other things. This group still did feel that prostate cancer chemoprevention with finasteride needs further research, although I personally believe that they are ignoring good statistical evidence to the contrary. Keeping an open mind is always good.

Please note that I just wanted to share what I read with the readers of this blog. I do not own Merck stock and can not benefit from any opinions expressed here.