title: Multimodality treatment of gynecomastia in patients receiving antiandrogen therapy for prostate cancer in the era of abiraterone acetate and new antiandrogen molecules.
abstract: Gynecomastia is a pathological enlargement of male breasts due to hormonal imbalance and elevation of estrogens at the expense of testosterone. It is very important to diagnose this disease precociously because it can be the expression of different underlying pathologies. Besides genetic, chromosomal or chronic diseases, drugs often represent the principal cause of this hormonal disequilibrium. In the elderly population, antiandrogen therapy for prostate cancer frequently induces gynecomastia, thus negatively affecting the patients' compliance to treatment because of physical and psychological discomfort deriving from this condition; gynecomastia can in fact be associated with severe breast pain, and it can modify how patients see their own body. During the past decades and even today, many different surgical, radiotherapeutic or clinical approaches have been proposed to prevent or treat this hypertrophy. This article focuses on gynecomastia associated with antiandrogen-based hormonal treatment and shortly reviews the currently most often used therapeutic options for preventing and treating this pathology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiological, Oncological and Anatomopathological Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. danielealesini@yahoo.it
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Alesini
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Iacovelli
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Palazzo
authors.forename: Amelia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Altavilla
authors.forename: Emanuela
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Risi
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Urbano
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Manai
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Passaro
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Magri
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cortesi
mesh_terms: D000069501:Abiraterone Acetate; D000726:Androgen Antagonists / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000730:Androstadienes / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D006177:Gynecomastia / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D000726:Androgen Antagonists; D000730:Androstadienes; D000069501:Abiraterone Acetate