Androgenic Alopecia Is Not Useful as an Indicator of Men at High Risk of Prostate Cancer

December 2010 in “ European Journal of Cancer ”

Ruben Cremers, Katja K.H. Aben, Sita H. Vermeulen, Martin den Heijer, Inge M. van Oort, Lambertus A. Kiemeney

TLDR Baldness at age 40 is not linked to a higher risk of aggressive prostate cancer.

The study conducted by Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, involving 938 prostate cancer patients and 2160 controls, found that androgenic alopecia (AA) at age 40 was inversely related to the risk of non-aggressive prostate cancer (PC), with an odds ratio (OR) of 0.81. However, no significant association was found between AA and aggressive PC, with the strongest non-significant association being an OR of 1.31 for 'vertex' baldness at ages 20 and 40. The study concluded that AA is not a useful indicator for identifying men at high risk of PC, and baldness patterns should not influence the decision to test for PC. Results were adjusted for age and family history.

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