Table 2
December 2021
TLDR Androgen suppression therapy (AST) doesn't significantly lower bladder cancer risk, but using finasteride, a type of AST, might decrease the risk. AST also lessens the chance of cancer coming back but doesn't really affect survival rates. More research is needed to understand AST's benefits for different bladder cancers.
The systematic review and meta-analysis of 18 studies involving 414,007 male patients investigated the impact of androgen suppression therapy (AST) on bladder cancer. The study found that AST did not significantly lower the risk of bladder cancer. However, patients receiving finasteride, a type of AST, showed a decreased risk. AST also reduced recurrence-free survival in bladder cancer patients, but it did not significantly affect cancer-specific survival, overall survival, or progression-free survival. The authors concluded that more research is needed to fully understand the benefits of AST in different types of bladder cancer.