Prostate Health Archive

Men are at greater risk for developing prostate cancer if their fathers or brothers also developed the disease. A new study shows that having second- or third-degree relatives with the disease also increases a man’s risk.

Although a long-term study has shown that men who had a vasectomy have a slightly increased risk of developed high-grade prostate cancer, not all experts believe that the link is real.

A growing number of aging men are trying to hold on to their youthful vigor by taking testosterone. Unsettling study results suggest that men with low but “normal” testosterone levels who take a testosterone supplement may be increasing their risk of having a heart attack, stroke, or developing heart disease.

Combining a chemotherapy drug called docetaxel with hormone therapy (androgen-deprivation therapy) to treat advanced prostate cancer appears to work better than starting with hormone therapy and adding docetaxel later.

Prostate cancer tends to be more aggressive in men with low levels of vitamin D. Among African American men, low vitamin D is also linked to a higher risk of developing prostate cancer.

A study published in the journal European Urology suggests that men who have defects in a cancer-suppressing gene known as BRCA are at high risk for aggressive prostate tumors, and so could benefit from PSA testing.

An FDA advisory panel rejected a French company’s application to market high intensity focused ultrasound as a treatment for localized prostate cancer.

In men with cancer that has spread beyond the prostate gland, radiation therapy plus hormone therapy can ease symptoms and improve survival. But some doctors give hormone therapy by itself to millions of men with localized tumors that haven’t spread beyond the prostate. A new study shows that this approach doesn’t help, and may hurt.

With their ability to smell tiny amounts of chemicals, trained dogs can easily find explosives or illegal drugs hidden in a suitcase. But mounting evidence points to another helpful job for man’s best friend: finding prostate cancer before it causes any symptoms.

Men who experience a spike in PSA but who have no symptoms after surgery or radiation therapy for prostate cancer can wait for up to two years before starting hormone therapy, according to a new study.