Skip to main content
Log in

Prostate cancer

Alcohol, cancer and 5α-reductase inhibitors—is there a link?

  • News & Views
  • Published:

From Nature Reviews Urology

View current issue Sign up to alerts

Two major trials have been performed to determine the effect of 5α-reductase inhibitors on subsequent diagnoses of prostate cancer. Both trials showed that high alcohol intake significantly increased prostate cancer risk among men allocated to the treatment arms. The recommendation that patients eliminate alcohol when taking 5α-reductase inhibitors seems appropriate.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

References

  1. Fowke, J. H., Howard, L., Andriole, G. L. & Freedland, S. J. Alcohol intake increases high-grade prostate cancer risk among men taking dutasteride in the REDUCE trial. Eur. Urol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eururo.2014.01.037.

  2. Andriole, G. L. et al. Effect of dutasteride on the risk of prostate cancer. N. Engl. J. Med. 362, 1192–1202 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Jin, M. et al. Alcohol drinking and all cancer mortality: a meta-analysis. Ann. Oncol. 24, 807–816 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Thompson, I. M. et al. The influence of finasteride on the development of prostate cancer. N. Engl. J. Med. 349, 213–222 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Gong, Z. et al. Alcohol consumption, finasteride, and prostate cancer risk: results from the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial. Cancer 115, 3661–3669 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Mukamal, K. J. Overview of the risks and benefits of alcohol consumption. UpToDate [online], (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Freedland, S. J. et al. Statin use and risk of prostate cancer and high-grade prostate cancer: results from the REDUCE study. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 16, 254–259 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Leonard G. Gomella.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares that he is a past steering committee member on the REDUCE trial.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Gomella, L. Alcohol, cancer and 5α-reductase inhibitors—is there a link?. Nat Rev Urol 11, 253–254 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrurol.2014.90

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrurol.2014.90

  • Springer Nature Limited

Navigation