Epidemiology

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High levels of circulating testosterone are not associated with increased prostate cancer risk: A pooled prospective study

  1. Pär Stattin1,†,*,
  2. Sonja Lumme2,
  3. Leena Tenkanen2,
  4. Henrik Alfthan3,
  5. Egil Jellum4,
  6. Göran Hallmans5,
  7. Steinar Thoresen6,
  8. Timo Hakulinen7,
  9. Tapio Luostarinen7,
  10. Matti Lehtinen8,
  11. Joakim Dillner9,
  12. Ulf-Håkan Stenman3,
  13. Matti Hakama10

Article first published online: 28 OCT 2003

DOI: 10.1002/ijc.11572

Issue

International Journal of Cancer

International Journal of Cancer

Volume 108, Issue 3, pages 418–424, 20 January 2004

Additional Information

How to Cite

Stattin, P., Lumme, S., Tenkanen, L., Alfthan, H., Jellum, E., Hallmans, G., Thoresen, S., Hakulinen, T., Luostarinen, T., Lehtinen, M., Dillner, J., Stenman, U.-H. and Hakama, M. (2004), High levels of circulating testosterone are not associated with increased prostate cancer risk: A pooled prospective study. Int. J. Cancer, 108: 418–424. doi: 10.1002/ijc.11572

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Urology, Umeå University Hospital, Umeå, Sweden

  2. 2

    Helsinki Heart Study, Helsinki, Finland

  3. 3

    Department of Clinical Chemistry, University Hospital of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

  4. 4

    Institute of Clinical Biochemistry, Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway

  5. 5

    Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Nutritional Research, Umeå University Hospital, Umeå, Sweden

  6. 6

    Norwegian Cancer Registry, Oslo, Norway

  7. 7

    Finnish Cancer Registry, Helsinki, Finland

  8. 8

    National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland

  9. 9

    Department of Microbiology, University Hospital of Malmö, Malmö, Sweden

  10. 10

    Tampere School of Public Health, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland

  1. †

    Fax: +46-90-12-53-96

*Department of Urology, Umeå University Hospital, 901 85 Umeå, Sweden

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 21 NOV 2003
  2. Article first published online: 28 OCT 2003
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 18 JUL 2003
  4. Manuscript Revised: 27 JUN 2003
  5. Manuscript Received: 5 MAY 2003

Funded by

  • Nordic Cancer Union
  • Swedish Cancer Society. Grant Number: 010614

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Keywords:

  • androgens;
  • sex hormone binding globulin;
  • prostate cancer;
  • plasma;
  • 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; ptrend = 0.05); for SHBG, the corresponding odds ratio was 0.76 (95% CI = 0.57–1.01; ptrend = 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; ptrend = 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. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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