LONGITUDINAL EVALUATION OF SERUM ANDROGEN LEVELS IN MEN WITH AND WITHOUT PROSTATE-CANCER

Androgens are thought to play a role in the pathogenesis of prostate c ancer. We evaluated androgen levels in 3 age-matched groups of men who were part of the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging: 1) 16 men wit h no prostatic disease by urologic history and exam (control group); 2 ) 20 men with a histologic diagnosis of benign prostatic hyperplasia ( BPH) who had undergone simple prostatectomy; and 3) 20 men with a hist ologic diagnosis of prostate cancer (16 with local/regional cancer, an d 4 with metastatic cancer). Luteinizing hormone (LH), total testoster one (T), and free T were measured on stored AM sera by radioimmunoassa y (RIA). Free T was also calculated from the measured concentrations o f total T and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG). The median number o f repeated sex steroid measurements ranged from 6-9 over a period from 7-25 years prior to the diagnosis of prostate disease. There were no significant differences in age-adjusted LH, total T, SHBG, or calculat ed free T levels among the groups at 0-5, 5-10, and 10-15 years before diagnosis. These data suggest that there are no measurable difference s in serum testosterone levels among men who are destined to develop p rostate cancer and those without the disease. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc .