title: Role of 5α-reductase inhibitors in prostate cancer prevention and treatment.
abstract: Although testosterone is the most abundant serum androgen, dihydrotestosterone is the main prostatic androgen. Testosterone is converted to dihydrotestosterone by the enzyme 5α-reductase (5α-R). Dihydrotestosterone plays an important role in several human diseases, including benign prostate enlargement and prostate cancer. The observation that males born with 5α-R 2 deficiency have never been reported to develop prostate cancer stimulated interest in development of 5α-R inhibitors. Thus far, 2 5α-R inhibitors are approved for clinical use. Several trials evaluated the use of 5α-R inhibitors in prostate cancer prevention and treatment and will be reviewed in this article.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York 14263, USA. faris.azzouni@roswellpark.org
authors.forename: Faris
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Azzouni
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mohler
mesh_terms: D058891:5-alpha Reductase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000726:Androgen Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001378:Azasteroids / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D000068538:Dutasteride; D018120:Finasteride / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011322:Primary Prevention; D011468:Prostatectomy; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000601:surgery; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
chemical_list: D058891:5-alpha Reductase Inhibitors; D000726:Androgen Antagonists; D001378:Azasteroids; D018120:Finasteride; D000068538:Dutasteride