Link found between baldness and prostate cancer
A new research claims that compared to men with no baldness in their 40s, men with a specific pattern of baldness at age 45 have a 40% increased risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer later in life.
‘Our study found an increased risk for aggressive prostate cancer only in men with a very specific pattern of hair loss — baldness at the front and moderate hair-thinning on the crown of the head — at age 45,’ said senior study author Michael B. Cook, an investigator at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland.
‘But we saw no increased risk for any form of prostate cancer in men with other hair loss patterns,’ Cook added.
Researchers analysed male-pattern baldness in relation to prostate cancer risk in 39,070 men from the US PLCO Cancer Screening Trial.
On follow-up, 1,138 prostate cancer cases were diagnosed, of which 51% aggressive.
Cook said, ‘While our data shows a strong possibility for a link between the development of baldness and aggressive prostate cancer, it’s too soon to apply these findings to patient care.’
