TUESDAY, March 26 (HealthDay News) -- For African-Americans, who are at elevated prostate cancer risk, baldness at age 30 correlates with prostate cancer, with frontal baldness linked to increased odds of high-stage and high-grade disease, according to a study published online March 26 in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
Charnita Zeigler-Johnson, Ph.D., from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia, and colleagues recruited 318 African-American prostate cancer cases and 219 African-American controls to examine the correlation between early-onset baldness with prostate cancer.
The researchers found that baldness correlated with increased likelihood of prostate cancer (odds ratio [OR], 1.69). Frontal baldness correlated with increased odds of high-stage (OR, 2.61) and high-grade (OR, 2.20) tumors, with a stronger correlation for men diagnosed before the age of 60 years (OR, 6.51 and 4.23, respectively). There was a suggested interaction for smoking, median age, and any baldness.
"African-American men present with unique risk factors including baldness patterns that may contribute to prostate cancer disparities," the authors write.
Abstract
Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)
