Steroids and prostate cancer

[Body]

A friend of mine just e-mailed me an article which supposedly has studies proving that AAS significantly increases the chance for males to contract prostate cancer. What are your feelings about this? The article was obviously written from a biased perspective and was attempting to prevent people from using AAS. It seems to me that AAS just joined the ranks of coffee, sweet & low, and microwave popcorn. What do you giys think, and validity?

[Carlos_E]

"The article was obviously written from a biased perspective and was attempting to prevent people from using AAS."

You've answered your own question.

[Body]

"The article was obviously written from a biased perspective and was attempting to prevent people from using AAS."

You've answered your own question.

No I haven't. My question is "what do you think about this?" How could I answer a question that asks your opinion?

[PuddleMonkey]

Saw Palmetto?

[sp9]

Saw Palmetto would be used as an herb that might prevent prostate enlargement (bph). I would definetly agree that steroid usage would increase the risk of BPH just because you are increasing testosterone . Most men get BPH in their lifetime and I think steroid use would just make it happen sooner.
But BPH is not cancer it just brings discomfort and frequent usrination. Good news is things like Proscar and Avodart will fix it.


Cancer? Not sure about that one. I know that avodart is in phase 3 (large scale) trials right now for prostate cancer prevention, with phase 2 (small scale) showing great promise.

[Sorken]

I've heard that too.. and I think its right that AS increases the chance for prostate cancer.. but it's not that big !!

Anyway.. hope that I don't get it !!

[edmen2]

nowadays everything causes some type of cancer. next thing u know exercise is gonna cause muscle cancer. just do what u gotta do and if u get prostate cancer the docs can fix that.

[johnsomebody]

Well, get online and do the research -it's out there. From what I've read there is little evidence it CAUSES prostate cancer but it's pretty clear that if you already have it testosterone will cause it to advance and spread more rapidly.

The tricky bit is that it's almost impossible to know whether or not you have prostate cancer without at least a PSA test, and it only indicates the likelihood. It's also true that the older you are the more likely you are to have it -in fact it's quite common in men over 75 or so. The good thing is that test levels are normally lower then so it's less likely to spread and do serious damage.

My feeling is before anyone does gear they should have their PSA level checked and if it's high don't even think of it. If it's low you shouldn't have to worry.

[Mr. Death]

There hasn't been enough research in the long-term use or long-term effects of using steroids for anyone to give a definitive answer. Anyone that says otherwise is basing their opinion on conjecture.

[Body]

It seems like the old school juicers (Eg. Arnold, Ferrigno, Katz, Waller, Olivia, Haney, Columbo, etc..) all seem to be in pretty good health these days. Arnold did have that heart surgery, but I don't think it was related to his use of AAS. It seems like bodybuilders, typically, live an overall healthier lifestyle and that might offset some of the negative effects of juice.

[BWhitaker]

Well it is said that 1-3 men will have prostate cancer. Both of my grandpas from both sides had prostate cancer as well as their dads. Looks like its heading my way. Oh well, bring me the gear so i can get it over with jk

[BUYLONGTERM]

I have a link somewhere where it shows that out of 27 studies, only 5 of them show Testoserone increases your chances of Prostate issues. I will dig it up.

[dieseL atC]

Don't you guys know? EVERYTHING causes cancer.

[Tock]

Even among guys who don't do AS, by the time they reach 80, most of 'em will have had some problems with their prostate. I think the number was by age 100, everyone will have had problems.

I wouldn't be surprised if it did generate prostate problems, but once they take it out, that's it. Might be impotent, but you can shoot all you want without worrying about your prostate . .
-Tock

[johnsomebody]

Oh, nice.

[DoctaBig]

I actually just had my prostate cancer lectures last week. The correlation between test/dHT and prostate cancer was originally concieved because of the statistically significant higher prevelence of PC in african american men. Research shows that on average african american men have 15 percent more free testosterone blood plasma levels than caucasion men. This lead to the correlation between the two.

The bad thing is how limited the studies are, testing for something like this is nearly impossible. How do you get a group of AS users in a controlled study...you dont, therefore assumptions, such as the one above, are just made based on hypothesis. Think about the egg "studies" every 2 years "they" change their mind on whether or not eggs are good for you. Some things we will never know.

But there is good news; propecia, finasteride, (the hair loss drug, which is a 5-alphaReducase inhibitor, ie it limits the production of dHT), was recently in a VERY large scale clinical study on its effects in preventing PC. The study was halted before its expected end date due to the fact that there was a DRASTIC decrease in the number of PC cases in the test group. The exact number for drastic escapes me right now but i'm sure it was over 25% possibly as much as 55%(i can find out for sure if anyone really wants to know). Numbers like these are pretty rare in clinical trials.

For me this basically confirms that in some way shape or form DHT IS involved in PC and AS users are subjecting themselves to a higher incidence of PC down the road...but you gotta die somehow

sorry if the grammar is bad....its late

[johnsomebody]

Excellent post!

There's also Saw Palmetto for protecting the prostate from DHT but they're still trying to figure that stuff out too.

Here's a quote from a recent study sent to me by Ichabod, "Current Concepts in Anabolic -Androgenic Steroids " Nick A. Evans, MD*
From the UCLA-Orthopaedic Hospital, Los Angeles, California

CONCLUSION:
"There are no reports linking AAS with prostate cancer,40..."

The reference is "#40 Heikkila R, Aho K, Heliovaara M, et al. Serum testosterone and sex hormone-binding globulin concentrations and the risk of prostate cancer. Cancer. 1999;86:312–315"

[DoctaBig]

saw palmetto is a very interesting plant. It HAS been shown to possess both alpha 5 inhibition AND DHT receptor antagonism properties, which is definatly a good thing for anyone with BPH and more than likely PC prevention. It's actually doted as being on of a VERY small group of herbal products to actually have an effect (echanacia (i wish i could spell), st. johns, phytoestrogens, and a few random others).

i still cant believe that there is no link between AAS and PC. To much evidence supporting it....but everyone has an opinion, just remember that because one doc or even one trial say's something it does not mean that it is true. There are many many many clinical trials repeated with contradictory results

[johnsomebody]

i still cant believe that there is no link between AAS and PC. To much evidence supporting it....but everyone has an opinion, just remember that because one doc or even one trial say's something it does not mean that it is true. There are many many many clinical trials repeated with contradictory results

I agree. I know just because there are no reports linking them (at least according to the article I quoted) definitely does NOT mean there are never going to be. It may just be a matter of time. Have you seen any reports linking AAS and PC?

There were no reports linking estrogen replacement with breast cancer for a long time then one day bingo. That seems to be how it goes.