Androgenetic Alopecia at Various Ages and Prostate Cancer Risk in an Equal-Access Multiethnic Case-Control Series of Veterans
March 2013
in “
Cancer Causes & Control
”
TLDR Early balding, especially frontal, increases prostate cancer risk; more research needed.
This study investigated the relationship between androgenetic alopecia (AA) and prostate cancer (CaP) risk in a multiethnic cohort of veterans. The results showed that earlier onset of balding, especially frontal balding, was associated with an increased risk of CaP diagnosis. AA, regardless of pattern, was linked with high-grade disease among men with CaP. However, the study relied on self-reported baldness to assess balding status from decades prior, which may underrepresent the true association between baldness and CaP risk. Further studies are required to assess to what degree age of AA onset and androgenicity may or may not jointly influence CaP development.