Hair Loss Drug Finasteride May Reduce Risk of Prostate Cancer

Researchers say a long-term study indicates the inexpensive drug is effective in reducing men’s risk of developing prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is widespread in the United States, second only to skin cancer in prevalence among men.

Managing the disease is often expensive and there’s no known cure.

What if there was a drug that could significantly reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer? What if this drug was inexpensive and commonplace?

According to the results of a long-term study, there is indeed such a drug.

The research, published this month in the New England Journal of Medicine, is the culmination of data that goes back more than a quarter century.

Researchers found that finasteride, a generic hormone-blocking drug commonly used to treat an enlarged prostate or hair loss, can reduce the risk of prostate cancer by 25 percent.

“It’s used widely, but the utilization of it specifically for reduction of risk of developing prostate cancers is very low,” Dr. Ian Thompson Jr., principal investigator of the study, told Healthline.