The two medical groups said their recommendation is based on 15 medical studies (including the large Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial) showing the risk of prostate cancer drops by about 25 percent among men taking the drug. The studies involved over 18,000 men aged 55 and older. The recommendation targets men with a normal reading on the prostate-specific antigen or PSA test, which is considered the best indicator of the presence of a tumor. Clinical trials leading to this recommendation covered only such men.

 

“The goal of developing a chemo-preventive agent that can reduce the risk of prostate cancer has been achieved, and that is a major achievement,” said National Institutes of Health scientist Barnett S. Kramer, who headed the group of scientists that issued the guidelines.

 

Finasteride does have side effect in some men, including reduced potency and loss of sexual desire. However, those effects can go away after a couple of months. On the other hand, the drug can result in reduced incontinence and fewer urinary problems.

 

Prostate cancer is diagnosed in approximately 220,000 US men annually. About 28,000 of them die, which makes prostate cancer the most common cancer and second-leading cancer killer among men. Worldwide, 221,000 men die annually because of it, from the 679,000 news cases diagnosed.

 

The recommendations will appear in the March issues of the Journal of Clinical Oncology and The Journal of Urology.