Drug Cuts Prostate Cancer Risk 23 Percent

A drug that is currently used to shrink enlarged prostates has been shown to reduce the risk getting prostate cancer in 22.8 percent of men who were considered high-risk candidates for the disease. The New England Journal of Medicine reports that of 6729 men who underwent a biopsy or
prostate surgery, cancer was detected in 659 of the 3305 men
who took the drug, dutasteride, as compared with 858 of the 3424
men in a placebo group, — a relative risk
reduction  of 22.8 percent.
The Los Angeles Times reports that the study found that the risk reduction occurred primarily in tumors of moderate
aggressiveness, the type that accounts for about 70 percent of all prostate
tumors in the general population. That means that men are less likely
to be diagnosed with cancer that is not likely to kill them, so they are
less likely to undergo aggressive treatment. and may be spared the anxiety of cancer diagnosis and the costs of treatment.

Read more in the L.A. Times.