Prostate cancer is NOT caused by high testosterone!

Regarding prostate cancer (and/or prostate enlargement or BPH, Benign Prostate Hypertrophy), there’s a number of things which are common beliefs for these health issues in men but which make no sense...
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For example, the belief that prostate cancer is driven by the male hormone testosterone. It’s like people (including doctors) think that as only men get prostate enlargement or prostate cancer, it must be due to testosterone levels, and especially from high testosterone levels! And as such, one of the medical “treatments” (and I use this word loosely) for prostate issues is a medication to block testosterone.

But if testosterone were the cause of prostate issues and prostate cancer, then EVERY male, boy or man would develop prostate issues! Especially more so in YOUNGER men and adolescents when their testosterone is at its highest! But this doesn’t happen as is proven in many published studies (Morgantaler, 2006).

So where did this belief of testosterone being linked to prostate cancer come from?

In a 1941 study on testosterone being linked to prostate cancer, which only used 3 men (!) and one man dropped out during the study and one man was already castrated (hence likely low testosterone), the scientists gave the 2 men testosterone injections (NOTE – not natural testosterone or checking on their own levels). The authors of this study based their findings on just one non-castrated man who had high testosterone, and doctors have been making “treatment” decisions on this poor quality study ever since…

More recent studies have NOT been able to prove that testosterone levels or even testosterone therapy/injections actually cause prostate cancer! In other words, NO studies have found that testosterone causes prostate cancer or increases its incidence! Testosterone causing prostate cancer is a MYTH from 1941, which is sadly still being followed and believed by doctors and oncologists now in 2026.

In my experience, I would say that only 5% of men who have been diagnosed with an enlarged prostate or prostate cancer are actually checked to see if they have high (or low) testosterone, before they are given testosterone blocking medications or even chemotherapy or surgery! But these medications are ridiculous and can produce dangerous side effects such as erectile dysfunction and impotence, development of man-boobs, low to no libido, increased weight and changes in body fat distribution to more like a female, reduced bone density, liver and/or kidney issues, and more.
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Many of these side effects are the same as having high oestrogen levels, being the main sex hormone in females. But males are not supposed to have high levels of oestrogen, as it’s the opposite sex hormone for male body functions! Hence this is far more likely to cause or drive prostate enlargement or prostate cancer than testosterone. And many human and animal studies DO confirm this!

Prostate stem cells are known to have oestrogen receptors, in a similar way that breast cancer cells do, and why breast cancer cells (and other female organ cancer cells) respond to oestrogen for their development and growth (Nelles, Hu & Prins, 2011; Bosland, 2005). Rat studies have shown to induce prostate cancer in 100% of male rats with exposure to oestrogen or oestrogenic chemicals.

Males are not supposed to have high levels of oestrogen! But in my clinical practice, I insist that men who have enlarged prostates or prostate cancer, or even men in their mid to late 40s for proactive preventative reasons, should get their testosterone levels checked AND oestrogen levels too. I’ve ALWAYS found high oestrogen in men with prostate issues!

Where is the high oestrogen coming from or what is causing the prostate cancer?

There’s a number of sources of oestrogens in foods, our environment, and even within our own bodies. The sources of the high oestrogens can be a combination of a number of these sources and factors, and this can be different in each man with prostate issues. Detailed testing and investigations and questioning are needed to find the root causes and factors in each man. This is what I do! In this way, I can find and treat your specific causes and factors, for a more personalised and specific treatment and preventative plan. By checking for testosterone and oestrogen levels in men, especially in the later years (say 40s-50s+) prostate cancer can even be prevented!

If you know a man with prostate issues (enlargement or prostate cancer), please let them know of this info, and/or share this with them.

If testosterone isn’t the cause of prostate issues, as it appears to be, then testosterone blocking medications won’t reverse it, but will make symptoms and side effects worse.

Stay healthy!

References:

Bosland M. C. (2005). The role of estrogens in prostate carcinogenesis: a rationale for chemoprevention. Reviews in urology, 7 Suppl 3(Suppl 3), S4–S10.

Morgentaler, A. (2006). Testosterone and Prostate Cancer: An Historical Perspective on a Modern Myth. European Urology, 50 (5), 935-939. DOI: 10.1016/j.eururo.2006.06.034.

Nelles, J. L., Hu, W. Y., & Prins, G. S. (2011). Estrogen action and prostate cancer. Expert review of endocrinology & metabolism, 6(3), 437–451. DOI: 10.1586/eem.11.20

Image - by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Pix4free.org