Prostate Cancer Archive

We can thank the Greeks for the name doctors apply to male hormones. Androgen comes from the words meaning "man-maker," and it's a well-chosen term. Testosterone is the most potent androgen, and it does make the man. It's responsible for the deep voice, increased muscle mass, and strong bones that characterize the gender, and it also stimulates the production of red blood cells by the bone marrow.

In addition, testosterone has crucial, if incompletely understood, effects on male behavior. It contributes to aggression, and it's essential for the libido or sex drive, as well as for normal erections and sexual performance. Testosterone stimulates the growth of the genitals at puberty, and it is one of the factors required for sperm production throughout adult life.

Good news for the millions of men worldwide who've had vasectomies: a new study disputes a link between this birth-control operation and prostate cancer. Two 1990 studies that connected prostate cancer and vasectomies caused men to question the procedure, even though no medical explanation for the connection could be found. Other research has both confirmed and denied the association in the past 10 years.

But the new study, published in the June 19, 2002, Journal of the American Medical Association, should ease men's minds. It involved over 2,000 men of European descent living in New Zealand, the country with the highest rate of vasectomies.

Researchers asked 953 men with prostate cancer and 1,260 who were cancer free about their medical histories — including whether they had had a vasectomy. It turned out that slightly fewer men with prostate cancer had undergone the surgery, which supports claims that going under the knife doesn't cause cancer. The same held true for the 38% of men studied who had had the procedure more than 25 years ago, which suggests that there are no long-term effects.