The Role of 5-Alpha-Reductase Inhibitors in Active Surveillance
May 2012
in “
Current opinion in urology
”
TLDR 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors might help slow down low-risk prostate cancer, but their use should be cautious.
The document discussed the role of 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors (5-ARIs) in active surveillance for men with low-risk prostate cancer (PCa). It highlighted that active surveillance is a preferred treatment for favorable risk PCa, but 30-50% of men on this path eventually require therapy due to disease progression. Recent findings from two studies, including a multicenter randomized controlled study, indicated that 5-ARIs might reduce the rate of clinical progression in these patients. However, these results needed to be interpreted cautiously due to the recent US FDA recommendation against labeling 5-ARIs for PCa chemoprevention.
