As of 2021, approximately 3.4 million men in the U.S. were living with prostate cancer. It's a significant health concern for us men, and something finasteride taken at high doses can help prevent.
THE STUDY SHOWING A 30% REDUCTION IN CANCER USED A 5MG DOSE, WHILE LOCKLAB CONTAINS ONLY A 1.1MG DOSE OF FINASTERIDE. That said, even at lower doses, finasteride may still offer benefits in cancer prevention.
In the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT), funded by the National Cancer Institute, 30 percent fewer men taking finasteride developed prostate cancer than men not taking the drug.
About the study: The PCPT was designed to see whether taking 5mg of finasteride could prevent prostate cancer in men ages 55 and older. 18,882 men joined the study over a recruitment period of three years. It started in October 1993 at 221 sites across the United States and was expected to continue until May 2004, but was stopped in June 2003 when an analysis showed that finasteride reduced the risk of developing prostate cancer by 25 percent.
Amazingly, additional analyses published in 2013 showed that with more follow up, the risk of developing prostate cancer was reduced by about 30 percent (10.5 percent of men in the finasteride group versus 14.9 percent of men in the placebo group were diagnosed with prostate cancer). (Source)
"In the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial, 30 percent fewer men taking the drug finasteride developed prostate cancer than men not taking the drug”
You may have heard concerns that finasteride only reduced the risk of low-grade prostate cancer and actually increased the risk of high-grade cancer. This has since been debunked in follow-up research by the National Cancer Institute. (Source)
Dr. Howard Parnes of NCI’s Division of Cancer Prevention and a PCPT investigator, stated that "Despite nearly 20 years of follow-up, we did not see an increase in prostate cancer mortality among men who took finasteride." Due to the effects of finasteride on gland size and PSA performance, it seems quite likely that the PCPT may have actually underestimated the benefit of finasteride in terms of the amount of reduction in prostate cancer risk. (Source)
The PCPT may have actually underestimated the benefit of finasteride in terms of the amount of reduction in prostate cancer risk.
At first, it seemed like men in the PCPT had more serious types of cancer, but later studies showed that finasteride just made it easier to find these serious cases early on. So, finasteride doesn't cause more serious cancer; it just helps doctors detect it better. (Source)
Imagine your prostate is like a sponge. Finasteride makes this sponge smaller, which helps doctors find any problems more easily. Because the sponge is smaller, it's easier to spot any bad spots. This means that when doctors do a test called a biopsy (where they take a tiny piece of the sponge to look at), they can see more clearly if there's anything wrong and how bad it is.
This is important because finding cancer early can lead to better treatment. So, finasteride not only helps reduce the risk of getting prostate cancer but also helps doctors find and understand it more accurately when they do.
When taking Locklab for male pattern baldness, there is no direct evidence assessing its effectiveness in preventing prostate cancer. However, one study found that 1mg per day of finasteride for 48 weeks lowered serum PSA concentrations in men aged 40–60 years. (Source)
There is potential that if a 5mg dose reduces prostate cancer risk by 30%, a 1.1mg dose may reduce it by a small percentage as well.
To be clear, the benefits of the 1.1mg dose for cancer prevention remain unproven due to a lack of direct evidence or large-scale trials. Further research is necessary to determine whether the lower dose offers protective effects.
