Common medications used to treat the prostate cancer can significantly increase the risk of obesity, diabetes and heart problems, according to a large study.
Prostate cancer is now the most common cancer in Britain, with around 64,000 men diagnosed each year.
Standard treatment includes Drugs that reduce the amount of the male sex hormone testosterone the body produces, also called androgen deprivation therapy or ADT.
Many prostate cancers rely on testosterone to grow, so cutting off that supply can slow or shrink tumors.
In addition to ADT, androgen receptor inhibitors (ARPIs) are increasingly prescribed, especially in men with advanced forms of the disease.
These medications help prevent cancer cells from using the remaining testosterone, making treatment more effective.
But researchers in the US are now warning that the drug could increase the risk of obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure in patients, especially older men.
In turn, these men face a significantly higher risk of heart disease, liver disease, osteoarthritis and other forms of cancer.
‘If [these drugs] are increasingly used earlier in the disease course, quantifying early metabolic risks is essential,” the researchers warned.
The study – published in the journal JAMA Oncology – analyzed health data from 16,924 men with prostate cancer who received both therapies but were otherwise healthy.
Researchers at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center in Pennsylvania found that during the first year of starting concurrent treatment, nearly 40 percent of men developed a condition known as metabolic syndrome.
Metabolic syndrome encompasses a range of health problems, including high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess abdominal fat and abnormal blood cholesterol levels, and increases a person’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes and stroke.
It is also linked to an increased risk of heart problems and premature death, with patients diagnosed with the condition if they have three or more risk factors.
The study found that the majority of patients developed symptoms of metabolic syndrome only one month after starting combined therapy.
High blood pressure – also called hypertension – was the most common health complaint across all age groups.
Metabolic syndrome is the name for a group of health problems that put you at risk for type 2 diabetes or conditions that affect your heart or blood vessels
The Daily Mail campaigns to end unnecessary prostate deaths and supports prostate cancer screening for men at high risk of the disease
Insulin resistance and high cholesterol – which can build up in blood vessels and narrow arteries, increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke – were also very common, especially among older men aged 70 to 79.
Experts believe that these therapies may increase the risk of metabolic syndrome due to the successful restriction of testosterone – a hormone that helps regulate body fat, blood sugar levels, cholesterol and blood vessel function.
Over time, lower testosterone levels can make some patients more vulnerable to weight gain, high blood pressure and diabetes – all of which can contribute to metabolic syndrome.
The team concluded: ‘These findings highlight the need for proactive, multidisciplinary strategies such as integrating preventive cardiology and nutritional services into prostate cancer care pathways, so that patients receive the proven survival benefit of treatment while potentially reducing long-term metabolic complications.’
The majority of men diagnosed with prostate cancer will not develop either robotic surgery to remove the prostate or radiotherapy delivered to the entire gland.
Both are effective treatments but can cause long-term side effects such as urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction.
Hormone therapy is often started before radiotherapy and continued during and in some cases after treatment, depending on how aggressive the cancer is.
About 15 percent of men diagnosed with the disease receive ARPIs, such as apalutamide, enzalutamide or darolutamide, in addition to standard treatment.
Although not routinely offered to every man with prostate cancer, ARPIs have increasingly become part of the first-line treatment for men whose cancer has spread due to side effects.
This damage is one of the reasons why the British National Screening Committee recently conducted research It is not recommended to screen all men for prostate cancer.
The Daily Mail is among those campaigning for an end to unnecessary deaths from prostate cancer and for a national screening programme, initially targeting men at high risk, such as people who are black, have a family history of the disease, or carry certain genetic mutations.
