Update on Finasteride to Prevent Prostate Cancer

To determine whether finasteride (Proscar and generics) prevents prostate cancer, 19,000 men received finasteride or placebo for 7 years in the randomized Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial. The initial findings were published in 2003: Fewer prostate cancers overall — but more high-grade cancers — were detected in the finasteride group (NEJM JW Gen Med Jul 18 2003). Some authors speculated that the apparent increase in high-grade cancers was spurious — an artifact of finasteride-induced prostate shrinkage, which enabled easier detection of high-grade cancers in random biopsy samples (NEJM JW Gen Med Oct 11 2007).

Now, the researchers offer additional posttrial follow-up data, focused on survival after randomization. Estimated 15-year survival …