What You're Saying Sounds Great, But Doesn't This Stuff Cause Cancer?
By Bartley Harvard Kerr, DC
NRC Founder and CEO
Many times when discussing hormone replacement therapy with patients and friends, the subject often comes up that they heard somewhere that treatment can cause cancer. Where did this come from and is it a legitimate concern? I will try to shed some light on this, utilizing some of the highest regarded journals, studies, and esteemed physician input to lay down the facts.
Men
I recently attended a continuing education conference and was amazed by the interest and enthusiasm many of my peers had to what we are doing at NRC. I did come across one physician, however, who inspired the title of this piece, who wryly quipped “What you’re saying sounds great, but doesn’t this stuff cause cancer?” He was referring to testosterone therapy and prostate cancer. “Doesn’t it cause dormant prostate cancer cells to proliferate?” I have known this individual for a long time, and have regarded him as a rather intelligent person, but totally uneducated in this subject. I gave him some facts, referenced studies and some science, but he still felt that “Its gotta cause cancer.” I asked him why and he shrugged his shoulders and nonchalantly said “I don’t know, it just does.” Wow! In a moment, you will know much more about this than many physicians, including my acquaintance at this convention.
Here is a summary of the history of the concern of testosterone causing prostate cancer. Many years ago, in the early 1940’s, there was a urologist named Charles B. Huggins who discovered many similarities between prostate cancer in dogs and humans. When he castrated dogs, their prostates shrank. He then applied this theory to humans. He took a group of men who had prostate cancer that had spread to their bones and decreased their testosterone levels by removing their testicles. He used a blood test called acid phosphatase that was shown to be high in men with prostate cancer as a gauge to determine if treatment worked. Days after the removal of the testicles and subsequent decrease in testosterone, acid phosphatase dropped. The conclusion was that a reduction in testosterone causes prostate cancer to shrink, and an increase in testosterone causes prostate cancer to grow. This has been the accepted thesis on testosterone and prostate cancer by many physicians, and some even today.
In looking further into the Huggins article, only three men were actually given testosterone shots. For some reason, only results were given for two men. One of the two men was castrated prior to the study. Therefore, there was only one participant in the study who was given testosterone injections without prior hormonal manipulation. In addition to this, acid phosphatase was used to test this person, and acid phosphatase is no longer used as it is an erratic test. So, the common medical assumption that testosterone causes enhanced growth of prostate cancer was determined from the outcome of one individual in the 1940’s with a flawed blood test! Wow (again)!
Lets fast forward to 2004. A urologist and associate clinical professor at Harvard Medical School named Abraham Morgantaler produced the most definitive manuscript on testosterone to date and was published in the most prestigious medical journal in the world “The New England Journal of Medicine.” Together with Dr. Ernani Rhoden, Morgantaler reviewed all the available literature of the risks associated with testosterone treatment over the period of a year. The conclusion was that “not one (study) has shown any direct relationship between the level of total testosterone in a man’s blood and the subsequent likelihood that he will develop prostate cancer.” Furthermore, “average total testosterone levels were not higher in the cancer group compared to men without cancer, and men with the highest testosterone values were at no greater risk for developing prostate cancer than men with the lowest testosterone values.” Later, Morgantaler concludes that “There appears to be no compelling evidence at present to suggest that men with higher testosterone levels are at greater risk of prostate cancer or that treating men who have hypogonadism with exogenous androgens increases this risk.
Since the Morgantaler study, many other studies have come to fruition, with similar findings. Many of the studies presented are done with thousands of subjects over many years under strict scientific method. This is much more meaningful than the results of erratic testing of one individual six decades ago!
Medical research and research physicians have revealed the safety and efficacy of therapeutic levels of testosterone supplementation in men who are deficient in the hormone. Those practicing physicians who mention the risk of prostate cancer forming from high normal testosterone levels may not be informed by the modern research and what they don’t know is “bad for you” or “needs more research.” To them as well as my colleague mentioned earlier, I suggest they read the current research before requiring more research!
Women
Over the last few years, there has been some bad press in the media about hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Often times women will ask me, “Doesn’t HRT cause cancer?” to which I reply “Yes it can.” They are often puzzled by my reply until I tell them “That is why we deal with bio-identical hormone replacement therapy, which has been shown to be safe compared to traditional HRT. Let me explain the difference.
Many physicians and some patients have heard of a study performed by the National Institute of Health in 2002 called the “Women’s Health Initiative.” This study took 161,000 healthy menopausal women and gave them the synthetic hormones Premarin and Provera to mitigate symptoms of menopause. After 4 years of treatment it was concluded that women who took these products had a 26% increase in breast cancer. This is where the negativity on HRT comes from and rightfully so. Unfortunately, these products still exist and are prescribed today.
Premarin is a medication that is synthesized from the urine of pregnant horses. It consists of a combination of 14 different types of estrogens and estrogen metabolites, only 2 of which are found in humans. Provera is a medication given to mimic the effects of progesterone in a woman. It is not progesterone, however, but progestin and no matter what the dose given does not elevate blood levels of progesterone!
The solution to safely mitigating the effects of menopause is to optimize hormone levels and replace what is missing with the exact same hormones that are in the body. Real estrogen and real progesterone given in the right dose have no negative effects and actually protect against breast cancer. Natural estrogen and progesterone work together to fight osteoporosis, heart disease, as well as increase libido. Natural progesterone can help fight PMS, irritability and headaches as well as enhances well being. Recent studies have also shown that progesterone was better in protecting against breast cancer than Tamoxifen by inhibiting growth of breast cancer cells (progestins stimulate the growth of cancer cells)! European Journal of Cancer
Summary
The key to bio-identical hormone replacement therapy is to supplement those hormones that patients are deficient in to the levels that are the healthiest. These hormones are in the body and can diminish over time, making people lose energy, gain body fat, lose motivation and just feel old. There are healthy and safe ways to combat this as the current research states, and NRC wants to be at the forefront to help our patients look better, feel better, and be healthier!
By Bartley Harvard Kerr, DC
NRC Founder and CEO
Many times when discussing hormone replacement therapy with patients and friends, the subject often comes up that they heard somewhere that treatment can cause cancer. Where did this come from and is it a legitimate concern? I will try to shed some light on this, utilizing some of the highest regarded journals, studies, and esteemed physician input to lay down the facts.
Men
I recently attended a continuing education conference and was amazed by the interest and enthusiasm many of my peers had to what we are doing at NRC. I did come across one physician, however, who inspired the title of this piece, who wryly quipped “What you’re saying sounds great, but doesn’t this stuff cause cancer?” He was referring to testosterone therapy and prostate cancer. “Doesn’t it cause dormant prostate cancer cells to proliferate?” I have known this individual for a long time, and have regarded him as a rather intelligent person, but totally uneducated in this subject. I gave him some facts, referenced studies and some science, but he still felt that “Its gotta cause cancer.” I asked him why and he shrugged his shoulders and nonchalantly said “I don’t know, it just does.” Wow! In a moment, you will know much more about this than many physicians, including my acquaintance at this convention.
Here is a summary of the history of the concern of testosterone causing prostate cancer. Many years ago, in the early 1940’s, there was a urologist named Charles B. Huggins who discovered many similarities between prostate cancer in dogs and humans. When he castrated dogs, their prostates shrank. He then applied this theory to humans. He took a group of men who had prostate cancer that had spread to their bones and decreased their testosterone levels by removing their testicles. He used a blood test called acid phosphatase that was shown to be high in men with prostate cancer as a gauge to determine if treatment worked. Days after the removal of the testicles and subsequent decrease in testosterone, acid phosphatase dropped. The conclusion was that a reduction in testosterone causes prostate cancer to shrink, and an increase in testosterone causes prostate cancer to grow. This has been the accepted thesis on testosterone and prostate cancer by many physicians, and some even today.
In looking further into the Huggins article, only three men were actually given testosterone shots. For some reason, only results were given for two men. One of the two men was castrated prior to the study. Therefore, there was only one participant in the study who was given testosterone injections without prior hormonal manipulation. In addition to this, acid phosphatase was used to test this person, and acid phosphatase is no longer used as it is an erratic test. So, the common medical assumption that testosterone causes enhanced growth of prostate cancer was determined from the outcome of one individual in the 1940’s with a flawed blood test! Wow (again)!
Lets fast forward to 2004. A urologist and associate clinical professor at Harvard Medical School named Abraham Morgantaler produced the most definitive manuscript on testosterone to date and was published in the most prestigious medical journal in the world “The New England Journal of Medicine.” Together with Dr. Ernani Rhoden, Morgantaler reviewed all the available literature of the risks associated with testosterone treatment over the period of a year. The conclusion was that “not one (study) has shown any direct relationship between the level of total testosterone in a man’s blood and the subsequent likelihood that he will develop prostate cancer.” Furthermore, “average total testosterone levels were not higher in the cancer group compared to men without cancer, and men with the highest testosterone values were at no greater risk for developing prostate cancer than men with the lowest testosterone values.” Later, Morgantaler concludes that “There appears to be no compelling evidence at present to suggest that men with higher testosterone levels are at greater risk of prostate cancer or that treating men who have hypogonadism with exogenous androgens increases this risk.
Since the Morgantaler study, many other studies have come to fruition, with similar findings. Many of the studies presented are done with thousands of subjects over many years under strict scientific method. This is much more meaningful than the results of erratic testing of one individual six decades ago!
Medical research and research physicians have revealed the safety and efficacy of therapeutic levels of testosterone supplementation in men who are deficient in the hormone. Those practicing physicians who mention the risk of prostate cancer forming from high normal testosterone levels may not be informed by the modern research and what they don’t know is “bad for you” or “needs more research.” To them as well as my colleague mentioned earlier, I suggest they read the current research before requiring more research!
Women
Over the last few years, there has been some bad press in the media about hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Often times women will ask me, “Doesn’t HRT cause cancer?” to which I reply “Yes it can.” They are often puzzled by my reply until I tell them “That is why we deal with bio-identical hormone replacement therapy, which has been shown to be safe compared to traditional HRT. Let me explain the difference.
Many physicians and some patients have heard of a study performed by the National Institute of Health in 2002 called the “Women’s Health Initiative.” This study took 161,000 healthy menopausal women and gave them the synthetic hormones Premarin and Provera to mitigate symptoms of menopause. After 4 years of treatment it was concluded that women who took these products had a 26% increase in breast cancer. This is where the negativity on HRT comes from and rightfully so. Unfortunately, these products still exist and are prescribed today.
Premarin is a medication that is synthesized from the urine of pregnant horses. It consists of a combination of 14 different types of estrogens and estrogen metabolites, only 2 of which are found in humans. Provera is a medication given to mimic the effects of progesterone in a woman. It is not progesterone, however, but progestin and no matter what the dose given does not elevate blood levels of progesterone!
The solution to safely mitigating the effects of menopause is to optimize hormone levels and replace what is missing with the exact same hormones that are in the body. Real estrogen and real progesterone given in the right dose have no negative effects and actually protect against breast cancer. Natural estrogen and progesterone work together to fight osteoporosis, heart disease, as well as increase libido. Natural progesterone can help fight PMS, irritability and headaches as well as enhances well being. Recent studies have also shown that progesterone was better in protecting against breast cancer than Tamoxifen by inhibiting growth of breast cancer cells (progestins stimulate the growth of cancer cells)! European Journal of Cancer
Summary
The key to bio-identical hormone replacement therapy is to supplement those hormones that patients are deficient in to the levels that are the healthiest. These hormones are in the body and can diminish over time, making people lose energy, gain body fat, lose motivation and just feel old. There are healthy and safe ways to combat this as the current research states, and NRC wants to be at the forefront to help our patients look better, feel better, and be healthier!