title: High levels of circulating testosterone are not associated with increased prostate cancer risk: a pooled prospective study.
abstract: Androgens stimulate prostate cancer in vitro and in vivo. However, evidence from epidemiologic studies of an association between circulating levels of androgens and prostate cancer risk has been inconsistent. We investigated the association of serum levels of testosterone, the principal androgen in circulation, and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) with risk in a case-control study nested in cohorts in Finland, Norway and Sweden of 708 men who were diagnosed with prostate cancer after blood collection and among 2,242 men who were not. In conditional logistic regression analyses, modest but significant decreases in risk were seen for increasing levels of total testosterone down to odds ratio for top vs. bottom quintile of 0.80 (95% CI = 0.59-1.06; p(trend) = 0.05); for SHBG, the corresponding odds ratio was 0.76 (95% CI = 0.57-1.01; p(trend) = 0.07). For free testosterone, calculated from total testosterone and SHBG, a bell-shaped risk pattern was seen with a decrease in odds ratio for top vs. bottom quintile of 0.82 (95% CI = 0.60-1.14; p(trend) = 0.44). No support was found for the hypothesis that high levels of circulating androgens within a physiologic range stimulate development and growth of prostate cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Umeå University Hospital, Umeå, Sweden. par.stattin@urologi.umu.se
authors.forename: Pär
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stattin
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lumme
authors.forename: Leena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tenkanen
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Alfthan
authors.forename: Egil
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jellum
authors.forename: Göran
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hallmans
authors.forename: Steinar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thoresen
authors.forename: Timo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hakulinen
authors.forename: Tapio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Luostarinen
authors.forename: Matti
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lehtinen
authors.forename: Joakim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dillner
authors.forename: Ulf-Håkan
authors.initials: UH
authors.lastname: Stenman
authors.forename: Matti
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hakama
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000728:Androgens / Q000097:blood; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011467:Prostate; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012738:Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin / Q000378:metabolism; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D000728:Androgens; D015415:Biomarkers; D012738:Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin; D013739:Testosterone