Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Journal of Symptoms and Signs

Publisher

Intermedcentral, Inc.

Publication Date

7-2014

Volume

3

Issue

3

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities

Abstract

Designed to test finasteride’s potential to cut the incidence of prostate cancer, the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial yielded a paradoxical finding: a decrease in low-grade PCa accompanied by an apparent increase in high-grade disease. As a result of these questionable benefits and apparent harms, the FDA has not approved finasteride for chemoprevention. While recently published follow-up data from PCPT suggests that concern over the risks of finasteride may be unfounded, it also shows that the drug has not saved lives. It may seem that the one remaining role for finasteride is as an adjunct to PSA testing, serving to reduce the risk of overdiagnosis. However, other harms connected to finasteride call even this secondary function into question.

Keywords

finasteride, prostate cancer

Rights

© 2013 Stewart Justman

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

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