Published: Oct 13, 2014 | Updated: Oct 17, 2014
Testosterone was found to be a weak complete carcinogen and a strong tumor prompter in rats, according to a researcher, who said that studies on the impact of testosterone therapy on cancer risk in aging men were "urgently needed."
They examined prostate tumor growth in intact male rats treated with slow-release testosterone implants alone, or testosterone implants, preceded by a single injection of the carcinogen N-nitroso-N-methylurea (MNU). Without the MNU, testosterone induced prostate tumors in 10% to 18% of the rats. With the MNU injection, there was 50% to 71% prostate tumor incidence, stated Maarten C. Bosland, PhD, of the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Even testosterone doses that did not elevate circulating levels of the hormone appeared to promote tumor growth, Bosland wrote in a brief report in Endocrinology.
Their findings led Bosland's group to call for retrospective and prospective studies that would examine the efficacy and safety of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) used for reasons other than hypogonadism.
Sales of testosterone treatments to middle-age and older men for low-T have now reached over $2 billion annually.
"Testosterone has become a multibillion dollar a year industry, and we don't really know if these treatments do what marketers claim or if they are safe," Bosland told MedPage Today. "It is imperative that we do the studies in humans that are needed to answer these questions."
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