Finesteride

[Eadgbe]

I was proscribed Tansulosin and Finesteride upn receiving my stage 2 porstate cancer diagnosis. I decided to forego finesteride due to the conflicting reports of it contribut8in to prostate cancer and improving results on the prostate. Am 5 weeks into RT now with significant side effects regarding urination that the tamsulosin only helps a little. Should I start taking Finesteride and will it Help the side effects.

[Atdabeach]

How much tamsulosin (Flomax) are you taking? I started on it during my proton therapy, and it didn't seem to be helping much. Then they doubled the dose, and bingo, that did the trick. I've continued to take it since (about 6 months), and find it's still effective.

[Tall_Allen]

It's too late for finasteride. Alpha-blockers like tamsulosin, silodosin, alfusosin, etc. are good but everyone is different. I found that 1 Rapaflo (silodosin) worked better than 2 tamsulosin (Flomax). My urologist had samples, so I was able to try several until I found one that was right for me.

[tn12 in reply to Tall_Allen]

Hi TA, why do you say it's too late for Finasteride?

[Tall_Allen in reply to tn12]

Finasteride shrinks the prostate, particularly cells enlarged by BPH. Radiation gets rid of most of such aberrant cells anyway.

[tn12 in reply to Tall_Allen]

Thanks for answering. My husband still takes Finasteride for hair loss. He had RP in Dec 2021

[cpl901 in reply to tn12]

Not same dose. 1 mg is for hair loss. For BPH it s 5 mg

[Eadgbe in reply to Tall_Allen]

I told my RO today and he said to start taking it and that it would continue to shrink the prostate which might help the urine retention.

[Tall_Allen in reply to Eadgbe]

Finaasteride (or dutasteride) only shrinks enlarged benign prostate cells. It blocks DHT which causes the cells to enlarge ("hyperplasia"). If you don't have BPH, it has no effect on urinary retention. Radiation, however, kills off abnormal cells (like the ones that are hyperplastic) and will shrink your prostate over time.

[tallguy86]

My RT gave me a prescription strength medicine called AZO. (also OTC but less strength) It really helped with urinary urgency. I used it for a week or so. It turns urine a dark yellow color and the stuff really stains! (beware). Good luck. Hope the bladder calms down.

[lgpaul]

I began taking Finasteride when there was only Propetia at much higher cost because I was a seminar leading mgmt consultant and the daily participant ratings were unkind for those speakers who looked old no matter how good they were (or so it seemed). My mother’s father was bald and I was developing a bald spot. Rogaine was not working. I still take Finasteride at 78 and have a fairly full head of hair. But a few years later, my PSAs began to go up and after a couple of biopsies, I decided to do something. That was eight years ago. My Urologist was not up-to-speed on the newer approaches so I went to “Best Doctors” and found only one an hour away who was doing robotic surgery. I decided to get rid of the cancer in the most complete way and my wife of 50 years was willing to end our once active sex life. Since then, the cancer is the undetectable. In short, the Finasteride has worked on the hair issue, failed to slow down the cancer, but I am alive and feeling good, tho I continue to deal with a lot of leakage and AFib keeps me from the ability to stop or reduce it. I hope this helps. I’ll add that before and after the surgery contributors to this site were very helpful and I will always be thankful for the support.

[doorknob5 in reply to lgpaul]

Twenty years ago, I started taking 1 mg/day of Finasteride for male pattern baldness. Five years later, the dosage was increased to 2.5 mg/day (split the lower cost of the 5 mg pill) and I continued this Rx for the remaining 15 years. I will say that I had a full head of hair!

After Dx with PCa, my urologist told me to stop Finasteride immediately as it adds fuel to the PCa cells for growth.

Today, I see that my male pattern baldness is coming back. I refuse to take Finasteride as it may add fuel to any stray PCa cell that may have escaped my prostate gland, either before or after RP.

[tn12 in reply to doorknob5]

Hi, do you have any documentation you can share regarding Finasteride fueling PCA?

[doorknob5 in reply to tn12]

According to publication "2023 Annual Report on Prostate Diseases", by Harvard Medical School (see p. 44), the drugs finasteride and dutasteride "inhibit an enzyme called 5-alpha reductase type 2, which the body uses to convert testosterone into a more potent hormone, dihydrotestosterone (DHT). DHT not only promotes the growth of normal prostate tissue but also fuels the growth of tumors.

Still, based on early study results, the FDA has warned since 2011 that finasteride and dutasteride might in fact increase the risk of aggressive prostate cancer."

The publication is available for purchase at health.harvard.edu.

[janebob99 in reply to doorknob5]

The black label warning for Dutasteride was based on a flawed analysis. Since Dutasteride shrinks the prostate by about 25%, the cancer "density" goes up by that amount, and any biopsy will probabilistically detect more cancers, especially larger high-grade cancers, assuming the same number of cores were used. This is called a "detection bias". There was also a Veterans study done of Dutasteride that found more prostate cancers in Vets taking Dutasteride. But, the explanation for this is related to the fact that taking Dutasteride reduces the PSA by about 50% (that has been my experience). The lower PSA caused some men to skip getting biopsies, which eventually translated into a higher rate of prostate cancers in the study group. That was an unanticipated effect.

[doorknob5 in reply to tn12]

cancer.gov/types/prostate/r....

[Eadgbe in reply to doorknob5]

This seems pretty important to know. Baldness isn't know to have the same mortality rate as PC. I wonder what the facts are.