Do Balding Men Have a Higher Risk of Prostate Cancer?
According to the Wall Street Journal (9/15/14) There was a 39% increase risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer when compared to non-balding men. This was the result of a questionnaire given to 39,000 men and fom this reason, the patients actually determined their balding pattern and their perception of the aggressiveness of the cancers. The conclusions expressed here should be evaluated with a more scientific clinical study; however because prostate cancer in the #1 leading cause of cancer in men, it may be worth taking note of this possible association. It seemed that the greatest risk may be with those men with frontal balding (what we call a Norwood Class 3V pattern) however, since this was done by self diagnosis, one can not be sure about the association. The American Cancer Society estimates that a man’s lifetime risk of developing prostate cancer is 15.3% and it carries a death risk of 2.7%. The article was written by Peter Loftus.
We reported a similar finding here
In another post on baldingblog, we wrote about a somewhat controversial article which contradicts the Wall Street Journal article is here
We have seen well documented associations between crown (vertex) balding and heart disease which we reported here
What is clear between the two subject article is that nothing is clear.
I have to disagree humbly with the association between balding and prostate cancer. Although this instance is anecdotal, I will mention it anyway. My
grandfather died from prostate cancer in 1994. He died with a full head of hair including a straight hairline (not even a mature hairline). Misassociations can be drawn due to coincidences and incorrect analyses and interpretations of the data.
I have to agree with Dr. Rassman that “nothing is clear.” More studies, more investigations are needed in order to understand the underlying causes of prostate cancer and what makes certain prostate cancers aggressive and other prostate cancers harmless.