EDITORIAL COMMENT

Late, -onset hypogonadism in men has been increasingly diagnosed and exogenous testosterone treatment has been used over a decade. Despite this rapid growth, there have been no large, long term, randomized, controlled studies for assessment of the association between testosterone therapy (TT) and prostate cancer. The effects of testosterone on prostate cancer growth have been demonstrated in 1940’s and withdrawing testosterone by medical castration is one of the mainstream treatments of prostate cancer recently. In this study, the authors investigated whether using testosterone during a 5-year period was associated with an increased risk of high-grade prostate cancer. According to the data from 574 men who had a diagnosis of prostate cancer and history of testosterone use before diagnosis, TT had no negative effect on the frequency of high-grade prostate cancer. Although more data are needed, health care providers can begin to consider treating hypogonadal patients who have prostate cancer with TT if they are symptomatic.