Finasteride Does Not Shorten Survival in Long-Term Study

A long-term study found that finasteride did not increase mortality in prostate cancer patients, alleviating concerns about the drug causing high-grade tumors. The Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT) initially showed finasteride reduced prostate cancer risk by one-third but raised concerns about high-grade tumors. However, an 18-year follow-up revealed no significant difference in survival rates between finasteride and placebo groups, suggesting the high-grade tumor findings were likely due to detection bias. This reassured researchers about finasteride's safety, particularly for men with enlarged prostates undergoing PSA screening, as it reduces low-grade cancer risk without affecting survival.