Prostate Cancer Increases Hip Fracture Risk by Eight Times in 50 to 65
Year-Olds

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK -- October 12, 2007 -- Men who have prostate cancer
are on average four times more likely to suffer a hip fracture, with
rates rising to eight times in men aged 50 to 65, according to a study
of more than 60,000 men published in the October issue of the urology
journal BJU International.

Danish researchers looked at 62,865 men aged 50 and over, with an
average age of just under 67. Of these, 15,716 had suffered a fracture
of some description and 47,149 formed the nonfracture control group.

They discovered that prostate cancer made men 1.8 times more likely
overall to suffer a fracture and 3.7 times as likely to suffer from a
hip fracture. But the hip fracture risk was eight times higher in men
from 50 to 65 years of age. No increased risk of vertebral fractures was
found by the research.

"Our study showed that more than three% of hip fractures in men aged 50
and over can be attributed to prostate cancer" says lead researcher Dr.
Bo Abrahamsen from Copenhagen University Hospital, Gentofte. "And the
risk remains even when men have recovered from the disease."

The researchers -- urologists and endocrinologists from Danish hospitals
attached to the University of Southern Denmark and Copenhagen University
-- now plan to establish a multi-centre initiative focussing on the
early diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis in men with prostate
cancer.

"Prostate cancer is now the cancer that men are most likely to develop
and is a leading cause of male deaths in Europe and the USA" stresses Dr
Abrahamsen.
"American research has also shown that men have a 17% chance of prostate
cancer during their lifetime. And Danish research has discovered that
deaths from the disease have more than tripled since the Second World
War.

"Medical advances are improving survival rates, but the downside is that
treatment can lead to osteoporosis, where the bone loses density and
becomes more fragile. This is turn increases the risk of fractures."

The researchers used data from the Danish National Hospital Discharge
Register, the National Bureau of Statistics and the National
Prescription Database to identify patients aged 50 and over who had
suffered a fracture. They then used the same data to identify an
age-matched control group.

"Our research showed that the increased fracture risk became apparent in
the early stages after diagnosis and remained pronounced even in
long-term survivors" says Steen Walter, Professor of Urology at Odense
University Hospital.

"Men who received hormone therapy (ADT) or had their testicles
surgically removed to slow the progression of the disease were 1.7 times
more likely to suffer a fracture."

The authors point out that the research only covered the 15% of ADT
doses issued on prescription. The majority of the doses are issued by
hospital departments, which means they cannot be traced to individual
patients. So the actual impact of ADT on national fracture levels could
be even greater.

Other issues were also found to lead to increased fracture rates.

"The study showed that the men in the fracture group were almost three
times as likely as the control group to have suffered a previous
fracture. They were also more likely to live alone and be in a lower
income group" says Dr Abrahamsen.

REFERENCE:

Fracture risk in Danish men with prostate cancer: a nationwide register
study. Abrahamsen et al. BJU International. 100, 749-754. (October
2007).

SOURCE: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.    

knowledge is power - growing old is mandatory - growing wise is optional    
"Many more men die with prostate cancer than of it. Growing old is
invariably fatal. Prostate cancer is only sometimes so."
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