Abstract 3260: Male pattern baldness increases the risk of aggressive prostate cancer: A prospective analysis of the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial

Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA Purpose: Androgenic actions are thought to underlie the development of both male pattern baldness and prostate cancer. However, results from previous studies of the relationship between these two phenotypes have been inconsistent. Therefore, we investigated the association of male pattern baldness at age 45 years with overall and aggressive prostate cancer risk in a large, prospective cohort–the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial. Methods: We included 39,070 men, from the usual care and screening arms of the trial, who were cancer-free at start of follow-up. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression models with age as the underlying time-scale. Results: During follow-up (median=2.78 years), 1,138 incident prostate cancer cases were diagnosed, 578 of which were aggressive (Gleason score ≥ 7, stage ≥ III, or fatal). Frontal + vertex balding at age 45 years, compared with no balding, was not associated with overall prostate cancer risk (HR=1.19, 95%CI: 0.98, 1.45), but was associated with increased risk of aggressive prostate cancer (HR=1.42, 95%CI: 1.10, 1.83). Adjustment for covariates did not significantly alter these estimates. Other classes of male pattern baldness were not associated with the overall or aggressive prostate cancer. Conclusion: Our analysis indicates that frontal + vertex balding at age 45 years increases the risk for future development of aggressive prostate cancer, and supports the possibility of overlapping pathogenesis. Citation Format: Cindy Ke Zhou, Ruth M. Pfeiffer, Sean D. Cleary, Heather J. Hoffman, Paul H. Levine, Lisa W. Chu, Ann W. Hsing, Michael B. Cook. Male pattern baldness increases the risk of aggressive prostate cancer: A prospective analysis of the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 3260. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-3260