results.

increases the

appearance of

prostate

Propecia and Proscar are both finasteride. Propecia dosage is 1
mg; Proscar dosage is 5 mg.

Proscar is often used to treat benign prostate hyperplasia.

A common hormone treatment for prostate cancer is suppression of
testosterone because it tends to encourage the development of
prostate cancer cells. The drugs used to prevent testicular
production do not affect the adrenal cortex production, and the
latter is where Proscar is often used. Suppression of the 5-10%
of the total testosterone production from the adrenal cortexes,
along with suppression by other means of its production by the
testes, effectively prevents production any testosterone.

Proscar also prevents conversion of testosterone into dihydrotes-
tosterone, which is five to ten times more powerful than simple
testosterone.

This is known as "chemical castration."

I recommend that Pierre look up Propecia (and Proscar) at
http://www.rxlist.com/

Side effects and contraindications are covered. I found nothing
that indicates that either formulation encourages
prostate cancer.

I recommend that Pierre tell his dermatologist that he wants a copy
of the entire article. That's quite a teaser on the JAMA page to
which the
link takes one. If he can, he might run it past an oncologist.

I note that the author appears to be Patrick Walsh, who, with
help, wrote
a book some while ago about prostate cancer. Walsh is a urologist.

There is another PCa book, _A Primer on Prostate Cancer_ by
Stephen B. Strum et al.
Proscar is mentioned favorably several times. Strum is a medical
oncologist.

BTW and FWIW, my internist studied under Walsh. Considers him to
be an opinionated man
who won't listen to views or facts that are inconsistent with his
preconceptions. I merely
report the fact of my internist's opinion without attempting to
evaluate it. So please, folks,
hold your fire; don't shoot the messenger.

Regards,

Steve J
__
"Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or
small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of
honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the
apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.''
--Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill

Hello Pierre...The "experts" are split on the answer to your question.
In the original study published in the NEJM, it was shown that
finasteride reduced the incidence of PCa by about 25% (PCa was
detected in 18.4% of the men available for final analysis in the
finasteride arm, versus a 24.4% detection rate in the placebo arm).
However, there was a higher incidence of Gleason grade tumors 7, 8, 9
and 10 in the finasteride arm (280 of 757 tumors [37%] in the
finasteride group vs. 237 of 1068 tumors [22.2%] in the control
group).  So, many feel that while Finasteride reduces the incidence of
PCa, the PCa that results is more aggressive.

However, the other camp argues that the study was flawed.  Drs.
Gleason, Bostwick and Epstein wrote a letter to the NEJM claiming that
any hormonal treatment, including Finasteride, will markedly alter the
appearance of PCa cells making it look more aggressive and make
Gleason grading suspect (BTW there was a conference at the Mayo Clinic
in 1996 were 30 leading pathologists and urologists took a similar
position with respect to the Gleason grading of PCA from men on ADT).
The letter was rejected for publication.  It has also been pointed out
that the average prostate volume was smaller (as expected) in the
finasteride arm than in the placebo arm (25.5 cm^3 vs. 33.6 cm^3),
which could well affect the sampling and detetction rates.

Bright minds on both sides of the debate, what is the truth?..Best
wishes and good health, Ron