Male Pattern Baldness Linked to Prostate Cancer
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iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Men with male pattern baldness just got something new to worry about besides a lack of hair.
A new study published in the Sept. 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology suggests men with male pattern baldness may face a higher risk of developing an aggressive type of prostate cancer than guys who are not going bald.
Study co-author Michael Cook, an investigator at the National Cancer Institute, is quick to point out that the study only found an association between male pattern baldness and aggressive prostate cancer. There’s no proof of cause and effect.
Male pattern baldness is a form of hair loss that starts when the front hairline as well as the top of the back of the head begin to recede.
Dr. Charles Ryan, an associate clinical professor with the department of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, says male pattern baldness develops as a result of “a cumulative, lifelong exposure to testosterone in the skin.” Ryan says testosterone also drives prostate cancer.
Researchers studied some 40,000 men between 1993 and 2001, when they were between 55 and 74 years old, and asked them about their level and type of hair loss at age 45. During a follow-up period between 2006 and 2008, the researchers found more than 1,100 men had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Nearly 600 of them developed aggressive prostate cancer.
Men who recalled having a specific type of male pattern baldness — in the front and, moderately, around the crown of the head — were 39 percent more likely to develop an aggressive form of prostate cancer than men who had no baldness.
Other types of baldness were not linked to the development of aggressive or other types of prostate cancer.
“It is conceivable that, in the future, male pattern baldness may play a small role in estimating risk of prostate cancer and may contribute to discussions between doctors and patients about prostate cancer screening,” says Cook.
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