Prostate Cancer Treatment Boosts Cholesterol and Heart Attack Risks

A particular type of prostate cancer treatment which cuts off the supply of male hormone also increases cholesterol and heart attack risks, makes blood-sugar disorders worse, and causes men to be fatter, a new report says.

Circulation, the American Heart Association’s journal, includes an advisory to doctors saying they should carefully watch men undergoing androgen deprivation therapy for signs of heart disease and other complications, according to Reuters news.

Heart disease kills more Americans than any other disease, with cancer coming in second. Prostate cancer is the number two cancer killer of men, trailing only lung cancer, Reuters reports.

Many men with prostate cancer undergo hormone therapy, a treatment also called chemical castration, to stop the flow of hormones which can fuel cancerous tumor growth.

Officials Warn of Hormone Therapy Risks

The new medical advisory was penned by the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, American Urological Association, and American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology.

“Based on current data, it was appropriate to conclude that there may be a relationship between androgen deprivation therapy in patients with prostate cancer and future cardiovascular risk,” said Dr. Glenn Levine of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, according to Reuters.

Further studies are needed to determine the precise risk to men posed by androgen deprivation therapy, the medical experts said.

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