Prostate cancer increases fracture risk

SYDNEY, May 15 (UPI) -- Research by scientists at the Garvan Institute for Medical Research in Australia shows a link between prostate cancer and a higher risk of bone fracture.

Tuan Nguyen, who initiated the study, analyzed data on 822 men from Dubbo, Australia, for nearly 20 years, who were 60 or older when the study began in 1989.

Of the 822 men, 43 subsequently developed prostate cancer. Twenty-two of the men received androgen deprivation therapy and 21 did not.

Compared to the men without prostate cancer, those with the disease showed a 50 percent increase in the risk of fracture. For those being treated with androgen deprivation therapy, the risk increased approximately twofold.

"The results have important implications in practice for several reasons," Nguyen said in a statement. "First, most of the men who developed prostate cancer started out with a higher bone mineral density than average. Second, developing prostate cancer clearly increased their risk of fracture. Third, androgen deprivation therapy treatment doubled their risk of fracture."

The study is published online in the international journal Bone.