Risk of Dementia Rises With Prostate Cancer Hormone-Blocking Therapy

A study in JAMA Network Open noted American men with prostate cancer who received hormone-blocking therapy were at higher risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer's later on than men who did not receive it, reports Reuters . Researchers tracked 154,089 men with prostate cancer, and those given androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) were at a 20 percent higher risk of being diagnosed with dementia and at a 14 percent higher risk of Alzheimer's diagnosis in the next decade. This risk continued to increase as drug dosage was raised. The results imply that in cases where the cancer is localized, ADT may not be a good option. "While this question of a link between ADT and Alzheimer's disease and dementia has been explored before, this is quite possibly the largest study to address this issue," said Johns Hopkins University Professor Catherine Marshall. "Because of that, it adds important information about the risk of Alzheimer's disease and dementia for men being treated."