Bladness Signals Prostate Cancer Risk

Men Who Bald Early Have Far Higher Rates of Prostate Cancer

Men who develop male pattern baldness early have a greater chance of developing prostate cancer later in life. Researchers still looking at why that is so.

A study released to the public on Feb. 18 2011 from the online medical journal 'Annals of Oncology' finds that men who go bald early in their lives have a much higher chance of later developing prostate cancer. The study was conducted by researchers at the 'European Georges Pompidou Hospital' in Paris.

"We set out to study if early-onset androgenic alopecia (male pattern baldness) was associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer later in life." the study reads. "Our study revealed that patients with prostate cancer were twice as likely to have androgenic alopecia at age 20."

Study Involved Prostate Cancer/non-Prostate Cancer Subjects

The methodology of the study, called Male pattern baldness and the risk of prostate cancer, was to enroll 669 men as subjects in the study, 388 who had a history of prostate cancer, the remaining 281 who did not have such a history. Each of the subjects were asked to rate their balding severity at the ages of 20, 30 and at age 40. The research team then compared numbers.

While the results told them those with male pattern baldness at 20 were twice as likely to develop prostate cancer later in their life, those results did not allow them to predict which persons would go on to develop prostate cancer.

The results found those who were bald at 20 did not have any higher chance of developing prostate cancer earlier than usual, nor was their prostate cancer likely to be any more aggressive a form. There was no increased likelihood of developing prostate cancer in men who had begun their male pattern baldness at the age of 30 or beyond, the study found.

Early Screening for Prostate Cancers

Early Onset of Male Pattern Baldness Indicates Increased Risk for Prostate Cancer -

An area, the researchers say, that the information may be used is in early screening of potential victims of prostate cancer. There is ongoing debate in the medical profession as to the use of early screening for prostate cancers and this study, it is argued, may provide candidates for early screening.

"At present there is no hard evidence to show any benefit from screening the general population for prostate cancer. We need a way of identifying those men who are at high risk," the study's lead author, Dr. Philippe Giraud of Descartes University in Paris, said in a statement. "Balding at the age of 20 may be one of these easily identifiable risk factors and more work needs to be done now to confirm this."

The researchers, who cannot say for certain why such a link exists, say that more study is needed into early onset of male pattern baldness and prostate cancer.

source: suite101