When Enlarged Prostate Prevents Prostate Cancer

When doctors detect enlarged prostate, their first response is often a fear of cancer. This is often followed up with long list of tests.

But a new study from Oakland University William Beaumont Hospital School of Medicine and published in the journal The Prostate reveals that nothing is farther from the truth.

You may actually be less likely to develop prostate cancer if you have enlarged prostate.

The researchers used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans on men who had been diagnosed with an enlarged prostate to see whether the structure of their prostates remained normal.

They consulted information from 405 men who had undergone prostate MRI scans at their hospitals. In addition to the MRIs, the men had also been given cancer tests, usually in the form of the removal and testing of prostate tissue.

The MRIs were highly detailed and provided information on both the central and outer parts of the prostate glands. This information included their volume and thickness, which are signs of enlargement, as well as something called the apparent diffusion coefficient, which helps check for cancer.

So, what did they find?

1. Those with larger prostates had a 3% lower chance of cancer than those with normal-sized prostates.
2. For every 1 cubic centimeter increase in central gland volume, there was a 3% decrease in cancer risk.
3. The apparent diffusion coefficient in the outer gland was not related to prostate size or even to cancer risk.

All this means that men with an enlarged prostate have a lower cancer risk than men who have a normal-sized prostate.

Why is it the case that an enlarged prostate seems to have a slight protective effect against prostate cancer?

The researchers don’t really know, but when surveying the available literature, they discovered an alarming fact.

A lot of medical research has established that people who take drugs for an enlarged prostate have a higher risk of prostate cancer than men who take no drugs for it and just allow it to grow.

This means that the drugs for a basically benign condition increase your risk of cancer, probably by undoing the protective effect, whatever this may be, that is provided by the enlarged prostate itself.

Fortunately, it’s quite easy to bring enlarged prostate back to its normal size (and avoid all the side effects of drugs) using simple lifestyle changes explained here…