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5α-reductase inhibitors (5-ARIs) depress serum levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) by approximately 50% and are widely used to reduce the incidence of prostate cancer in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. However, whether use of 5-ARIs affects prostate cancer diagnosis and mortality in these patients is unclear.
To address this issue, investigators conducted a population-based cohort study that linked data from the Veterans Affairs Informatics and Computing Infrastructure and the National Death Index on 80,875 patients (median age, 66 years) with a prostate cancer diagnosis made between 2001 and 2015. Of these patients, 10.6% were prescribed 5-ARIs (mainly finasteride) at least 1 year prior to a cancer diagnosis.
The median del…