Prevention
One of the most common discussions people have with their health care provider is about lowering their risk of developing certain diseases. Your doctor might recommend making diet and lifestyle changes, or prescribe preventative medication. If you have a higher-than-normal risk of developing a disease, chemoprevention may be a viable option.
“Chemoprevention is the ability to use medication to either prevent a process from starting, or prevent a process from progressing,” says Dr. John Warner, a urologist active in the Men's Health Initiative of BC. “It's a term that's been used for many years in different areas. Some of the areas we've seen it in, for example, are lipid metabolism and heart disease - the use of lipid drugs will prevent heart disease. Or, even something as simple as the use of fluoride for cavities.”
Chemoprevention in Urology
“Chemoprevention is a new term that's used in urology, because of several different papers and several different publications, which have come out recently that show that the use of these medications will prevent prostate cancer,” says Dr. Warner. “The two papers that have come out are known as the PCPT study and the REDUCE study. Both of these show that there is a 25% reduction in prostate cancer patients that take either finasteride or dutasteride.”
The Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT) was a study done in men 55 years and older, to determine whether or not the drug finasteride could prevent prostate cancer. The PCPT was funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and looked at 18,882 men over a three-year-period.
The Reduction by Dutasteride of Prostate Cancer Events (REDUCE) study was an international clinical trial that looked at 8,200 men ages 50 to 75, from 250 sites in 42 countries. Men younger than 60 needed baseline PSA values of 2.5 to 10 ng/mL, while men older than 60 needed values of 3.0 to 10 ng/mL to participate.
A great deal of research is needed to understand chemoprevention, which is why it is still in its early stages. Find out more about chemoprevention from health care providers near you.
Preventing Prostate Cancer
Reducing Risk of Prostate Cancer
Chemoprevention for Prosate Cancer
