In a new study, researchers found that a hormone-blocking treatment for prostate cancer may increase the risk of dementia in patients.
The treatment is androgen deprivation therapy or ADT. The finding is based on one of the largest and most reliable databases.
The research was conducted by a team from the University of Pennsylvania.
ADT is an anti-hormone therapy mainly used in treating prostate cancer. Prostate cancer cells usually require androgen hormones, such as testosterone, to grow.
ADT can reduce the levels of androgen hormones, with drugs or surgery, to prevent prostate cancer cells from growing.
Previous research has shown that ADT exposure might be linked to dementia, but the evidence has been inconsistent.
In the new study, the team examined data from a big national cancer database, the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results.
The study involved more than 154,000 elderly men newly diagnosed with prostate cancer between 1996 and 2003. The researchers tracked the patients for about eight years.
The team focused on the link between ADT exposure and the diagnosis of Alzheimer disease or dementia in the follow-up period.
They found that the use of ADT was linked to a diagnosis of Alzheimer disease (13%) compared with no ADT use (9%).
In addition, the use of ADT also was linked to a higher risk of dementia (22%) than non-use of ADT (16%)
The team says that ADT use was linked to a higher risk of Alzheimer disease or dementia over a long period.
Doctors need to carefully weigh the long-term risks and benefits of ADT use in prostate cancer patients who have a long life expectancy.
It is important to discuss the potential risks and benefits of ADT with patients when choosing cancer treatment.
The lead author of the study is Ravishankar Jayadevappa, Perlman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.
The study is published in JAMA Network Open.
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