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.
Written by:
Azzouni F, Mohler J. Are you the author?
Department of Urology, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York, USA.
Reference: Urology. 2012 Mar 23. Epub ahead of print.
doi: 10.1016/j.urology.2012.01.024
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 22446342
UroToday.com Prostate Cancer Section