BOSTON -- Feb. 21, 2002 -- Men who undergo hormonal therapy for prostate cancer often experience weight gain and increased body fat as unwanted side effects of the treatment say researchers.
Prostate cancer patients often undergo what is called, androgen-deprivation therapy, to reduce their levels of the hormone testosterone, which can accelerate the growth of prostate cancer. While the treatment can be effecting in slowing or stopping the cancer progression, the long-term side effects of the treatment have not been well studied.
A research team led by Dr. Matthew Smith of the Massachusetts General Hospital published its findings in the Feb. issue of The Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism.
"Most patients and their physicians are not aware of these important side effects," Smith said in a prepared statement. "They assume that something else is wrong when they start gaining weight."
Smith explains that treatments aimed at lowering testosterone in prostate cancer patients are similar to strategies that lower estrogens in breast cancer patients. Sex hormones can accelerate the development of these cancers, and lowering or blocking them is an effective treatment approach. Unfortunately, the researchers found that lowering testosterone levels in men leads to increased weight, increase fat mass, and decreased muscle mass.
Smith and his colleagues studied 40 men with prostate cancer that had not spread beyond the prostates. The men received every 12 weeks for one year injections of leuprolide depot, a long-acting drug that suppresses hormone activity in the body.
In addition to increased fat body mass, the patients showed increased serum concentrations of total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides. Also, most subjects experienced anemia, with decreased blood hemoglobin concentrations, which reduces the oxygen carrying capacity of red blood cells leading to fatigue.
Smith says patients may be able to modify their diets and boost their exercise levels in order to offset these adverse effects of androgen deprivation therapy, but ultimately the long-term solution will be to develop better drugs for prostate cancer patients.
"We need to develop improved strategies to prevent these side effects," he explains. "Our research program is evaluating whether other drugs will have fewer side effects."
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