A new study suggests that men under hormone therapy as part of their prostate cancer treatment have higher risks of developing kidney problems.
Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is a treatment wherein the androgen hormones, which accelerate the growth of prostate cancer cells, are being reduced.
Laurent Azoulay, lead author of the study and assistant professor from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and his colleagues studied the data of about 10,250 men diagnosed with prostate cancer from the United Kingdom between 1997 and 2008. They did a follow-up after four years.
During the follow-up, the researchers found out that 232 of the patients had developed an acute kidney problem. This number was compared to 2,721 others that belong to the same age group which did not have any kidney problem. More than 50 percent of those who developed kidney problem were undergoing hormone therapy.
Azoulay wrote that these men had possibly developed kidney problem due to the changes in the testosterone and estrogen levels as a result of the therapy. It affected the kidney’s ability to function properly up to the point that it couldn’t repair itself anymore.
The researchers recommend to doctors to check the patient’s kidney health first before prescribing the therapy.
"Our study does raise the concern that perhaps we should be more careful in prescribing androgen deprivation therapy in patients who do not have the clear indication for it," said Azoulay in the report.
The study was published in the July 17 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Kidney problems are not the only adverse side effects of the hormone therapy. The American Cancer Society noted in their website that patients may also experience reduced libido, erectile dysfunction, osteoporosis, anemia, decreased mental sharpness, increased cholesterol, and depression.
