Does Testosterone Therapy Increase Risk for Prostate Cancer?

The official U.S. prescribing information for testosterone notes that testosterone therapy might increase risk for prostate cancer and recommends that patients be screened for prostate cancer before and during treatment. However, this concern is theoretical and not based on firm evidence.

In this study, researchers (several of whom disclosed “financial interests” with a testosterone manufacturer) analyzed prospective registries of 1023 testosterone recipients to determine the incidence of prostate cancer. Two cohorts, with 601 patients from two urology clinics, consisted mainly of middle-aged men (mean age, 58) with erectile dysfunction and serum testosterone levels ≤350 ng/dL; the third cohort, from a reproductive medicine clinic, included …