Abstract
CONTEXT: Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) changes during testosterone treatment of older hypogonadal men have not been rigorously evaluated. DESIGN: Double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial. SETTING: Twelve US academic medical centers. PARTICIPANTS: Seven hundred ninety hypogonadal men ≥65 years of age with average testosterone levels ≤275 ng/dL. Men at high risk for prostate cancer were excluded. INTERVENTIONS: Testosterone or placebo gel for 12 months. MAIN OUTCOMES: Percentile changes in PSA during testosterone treatment of 12 months. RESULTS: Testosterone treatment that increased testosterone levels from 232 ± 63 ng/dL to midnormal was associated with a small but substantially greater increase (P < 0.001) in PSA levels than placebo treatment. Serum PSA levels increased from 1.14 ± 0.86 ng/mL (mean ± SD) at baseline by 0.47 ± 1.1 ng/mL at 12 months in the testosterone group and from 1.25 ± 0.86 ng/mL by 0.06 ± 0.72 ng/mL in the placebo group. Five percent of men treated with testosterone had an increase ≥1.7 ng/mL and 2.5% of men had an increase of ≥3.4 ng/mL. A confirmed absolute PSA >4.0 ng/mL at 12 months was observed in 1.9% of men in the testosterone group and 0.3% in the placebo group. Four men were diagnosed with prostate cancer; two were Gleason 8. CONCLUSIONS: When hypogonadal older men with normal baseline PSA are treated with testosterone, 5% had an increase in PSA ≥1.7 ng/mL, and 2.5% had an increase ≥3.4 ng/mL.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 6238-6246 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism |
Volume | 104 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 1 2019 |
PubMed: MeSH publication types
- Journal Article
- Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't