Is it safe to take tamsulosin

I read where it can increase the risk of high grade prostate cancer. Are many of you guys taking it.

62gal, what exactly did you read? Millions of men around the world have taken it for years with minimal side effects. Please show us the source information. I took it in the drug Jalyn, which combines Flomax and Avodart. The Flomax assisted with urinary regularity following radiotherapy and the Avodart suppressed DHT to fight the high risk PCa. No ill effects.

Not me, the concern has always been the reduction in PSA associated with these meds that might mask the rising PSA effect of PCa thus it gets worse over time. Most urologists understand this if they know about the usage but not sure if other doctors are as concerned.

Can you provide some evidence (from a refereed source) for your post, please.

Post Edited (Sr Sailor) : 9/20/2024 11:27:53 AM (GMT-4)

62gal said...
This is copy from google:
According to the Mayo Clinic, tamsulosin can affect the results of a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test, which is used to detect prostate cancer. Tamsulosin can also increase the risk of developing high-grade prostate cancer, so patients should inform their doctor if they are concerned about this risk.

If the information is from this Mayo Cliic page, there may be some confusion. I believe the sentence there refers (only) to the dutasteride in Jalyn, which is the combination of tamulosin and dutasteride.

Note: The black box FDA (and Mayo Clinic) warning about 5α-reductase Inhibitors like dutasteride and finasteride increasing the risk of high-grade PCa, as I understand it, is because the lower PSA that results can give a false sense of complacency, leading to a delayed diagnosis of PCa. This delay could give one's cancer time to progress to high-risk disease. (See the Wiki article.) In other words, these medications do not directly increase the risk of high-grade PCa. All uros know that after a few months on these drugs you have to double the results of your PSA tests to know your "effective" PSA.

Actually, there is evidence that 5α-reductase Inhibitors actually lower the risk of low-grade PCa by about 25%, although the FDA has not approved the use of that claim in drug advertising.

Tamulosin (Flomax) taken by itself has an entirely different mechanism of action for improving BPH symptoms, and AFAIK does not cause a lowering of one's PSA or the indirect risk of delayed cancer diagnosis.

Djin

5a-reductase inhibitors suppress the production of dihydrotestosterone, DHT. This then lowers serum PSA levels by about 35-50%. Several studies have shown they may reduce low risk PCa, but do not increase the risk of high risk PCa. In fact and actual use, they help find intermediate and high risk PCa and are a common and useful aid in discovering PCa.

The two main drugs in this class are Avodart, approved in 2001; and Proscar/Propecia approved in 1992. These drugs are also used to promote hair growth in men and inhibit hair growth in women. They have nothing to do with Flomax and operate completely different for different purposes.