Pass the patch.
The US is in the middle of an estrogen patch shortage, with menopausal women struggling to get ahold of hormone therapy to stave off their symptoms — and experts don’t think the problem’s likely to resolve any time soon.
But a study recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that a surprising cohort of men could benefit from the treatment, too.
Researchers sought to test the efficacy of transdermal estradiol, AKA estrogen patches, in treating patients with prostate cancer, the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the walnut-shaped gland below the bladder.
Experts estimate that one in six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and about 3% of men will die from it.
It is the most common cancer in US men, excluding skin cancer, and the second-leading cause of male cancer deaths, after lung cancer.
In the new study, prostate cancer patients were given one of two treatments: tE2 estrogen patches or luteinizing hormone–releasing hormone (LHRH) antagonists, a type of drug that decreases the amount of testosterone produced by the testicles.
As a treatment, estrogen patch users were just slightly better off. Their three-year metastasis-free survival — meaning the patient survived and the cancer did not spread — was 87.1%, compared with 85.9% for those taking luteinizing hormone–releasing hormone (LHRH) antagonists.
Thee five-year overall metastasis-free survival was 81.1% among those taking transdermal estrogen compared with 79.2% among those taking LHRH agonists.
But the bigger news was about side effects.
While 89% of LHRH agonist patients had hot flashes, only 44% of estrogen patch wearers did.
On the flip side, only 42% of those treated with LHRH agonists experienced breast enlargement, but 85% on the estrogen patches did.
In addition to being a potential boon for a cancerous undercarriage, estradiol has been found to support brain health by enhancing neuroplasticity, reducing inflammation, and improving communication between brain cells.
The promising results from the estrogen patch are the latest in a series of advances targeting prostate cancer.
A team of Swedish researchers recently found that pioglitazone, a common anti-diabetic drug, shows immense promise in keeping prostate cancer at bay, as a study showed that the medication not only slowed the growth of cancer cells but also hampered their ability to grow back.
Meanwhile, a UCLA study found that an AI tool identified prostate cancer with 84% accuracy, compared with 67% for physicians, highlighting the potential of AI to improve diagnostic precision.
While the overall five-year survival rate for prostate cancer is as high as 97%, studies have shown that men who avoid prostate cancer screening appointments are 45% more likely to die from the disease.
For those looking to reduce their risk of prostate cancer, experts suggest they keep it coming: Data from a long-term health and lifestyle study suggests that those who ejaculate 21 or more times per month had a 19-22% lower risk of prostate cancer than those who ejaculated less.
