Video: Does TT status modify a man’s risk of cancer?

Testosterone Therapy and Cancer Risk

Michael L. Eisenberg*†, Shufeng Li*‡, Paul Betts§, Danielle Herder¶, Dolores J. Lamb¶ and Larry I. Lipshultz¶

Departments of *Urology, †Obstetrics/Gynecology and ‡Dermatology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, §Cancer Epidemiology and Surveillance Branch, Texas Cancer Registry, Texas Department of State Health Services, Austin, TX, and ¶Scott Department of Urology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA

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OBJECTIVE

To determine if testosterone therapy (TT) status modifies a man’s risk of cancer.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The Urology clinic hormone database was queried for all men with a serum testosterone level and charts examined to determine TT status. Patient records were linked to the Texas Cancer Registry to determine the incidence of cancer. Men accrued time at risk from the date of initiating TT or the first office visit for men not on TT. Standardised incidence rates and time to event analysis were performed.

RESULTS

In all, 247 men were on TT and 211 did not use testosterone. In all, 47 men developed cancer, 27 (12.8%) were not on TT and 20 (8.1%) on TT. There was no significant difference in the risk of cancer incidence based on TT (hazard ratio [HR] 1.0, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.57–1.9; P = 1.8). There was no difference in prostate cancer risk based on TT status (HR 1.2, 95% CI 0.54–2.50).

CONCLUSION

There was no change in cancer risk overall, or prostate cancer risk specifically, for men aged >40 years using long-term TT.