Finasteride is Men’s New Best Friend

The generic drug finasteride not only can shrink an enlarged prostate and reduce the risk of getting prostate cancer by 25 percent – the drug can also raise the chances that doctors can detect prostate cancer early.

It has already been said so many times (in any cancer type) that earliest detection of the cancer is always good because that’s when the cancer is most easily treatable and thus the higher chance of survival in patients.

Such were the findings of the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) –headquartered at the University of Michigan.

According to Ian M. Thompson, M.D., the study’s senior author and a urologist at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio:

“It appears that a man concerned about prostate-cancer risk, who is having a PSA test on a regular basis, will not only reduce his risk of prostate cancer if he takes finasteride, but will help find the cancers that pose the highest risk.”

Finasteride makes the PSA test perform better, so we can find the cancer earlier. Our current study also shows that by shrinking the prostate gland, finasteride makes a biopsy more sensitive for any cancers that are present.

That increased accuracy is very important because if a biopsy reveals a slow-growing cancer but fails to spot a fast-growing one, a doctor and patient may take a “wait and see” approach when prompt treatment is actually needed.”

Finasteride is popularly available as Proscar® – a product of Merck. However, if you are a prostate cancer patient, ask you doctor if finasteride is fit for you because it can cause the following side effects:

• impotence (inability to have or maintain an erection)
• decreased libido (interest in sex)
• decreased volume of ejaculate (amount of semen)

Find more details from University of Michigan Health System.