Prostate treatment could cause other problems

April 28, 2009 Men with advanced prostate cancer may be given androgen deprivation therapy, or ADT, to stop their production of testosterone, which may drive tumor growth.

Doctors at the University Of Texas Health Science Center in Houston found that ADT increased the risk of overall fracture by 23 percent compared with prostate cancer patients who did not receive hormone therapy.

Prostate cancer patients treated with ADT were also 17 percent more likely to die from cardiovascular disease.

That amounts to about one out of every 1,000 patients who receive ADT.

The study is being published in the journal Cancer.