Therapeutic effects of finasteride: inhibition of disease progression and serum prostate-specific antigen reduction in patients with prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia

• Published in: Annales de biologie clinique (Paris) Vol. 81; no. 6; p. 610
• Main Authors: He, Jia Wei, Huang, Zi-Xuan, Wu, Jian-Liang, Su, Yan-Feng, Xu, Xiao-Long
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: France 01.12.2023
• Subjects: prostate cancer; prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia; carcinogenesis; finasteride; prostate-specific antigen
• ISSN: 1950-6112
• DOI: 10.1684/abc.2023.1859

The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of finasteride on the progression of prostate intraepithelial neoplasia and levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in patients. A total of 120 patients with high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia were included in this study from January 2013 to January 2018. All patients underwent prostate biopsies. Among them, 60 patients were assigned to the observation group and received a daily dosage of 5 mg finasteride for 60 months, while the remaining 60 patients were assigned to the control group and did not receive finasteride. PSA levels were measured every six months, and imaging scans were conducted throughout the five-year study period. Additional biopsies were performed if PSA levels exceeded 10 ng/mL or imaging suggested the presence of prostate cancer. Statistical analysis was applied to the collected data. In total, 25 cases of prostate cancer were identified in this study. Of these cases, 7 patients belonged to the observation group, whereas the remaining 18 patients were from the control group. The observation group exhibited significantly lower levels of total serum PSA (p < 0.001) and Gleason scores (p < 0.001) compared to the control group. Our study, which involved 120 participants, demonstrated that finasteride effectively reduces serum PSA levels and mitigates the severity of prostate cancer. These findings suggest that finasteride holds potential as a treatment option for patients with -high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia.