Does progesterone increase the risk of prostate cancer?
According to Dr Lee, two studies published in the American Journal of Pathology in 1999 show that estrogen increases prostate cancer, and that progesterone receptors in the prostate are more abundant in cases of more aggressive prostate cancer. Misinterpretation of this type of result is common.
Conventional interpretation suggests that this might indicate that progesterone causes the more aggressive breast and prostate cancers. The truth is that progesterone receptors are made by estrogen. The higher the estradiol / progesterone ratio, the greater are the number of progesterone receptors that will emerge.
This is the tissue’s effort to restore proper progesterone function in situations where estrogen dominance is present. thus, increase of progesterone receptors is evidence of estrogen dominance, and not evidence that progesterone increases the risk of cancer.
Rate of prostate cancer on the increase
Prostate problems are the fastest-growing health concern among men in Western countries, and the rate of prostate cancer is increasing steadily.
The initiation of normal cells turning into cancer cells is the same for both the breast or uterus and the prostate gland. In these organs, cancer initiation is due primarily to estrogen dominance combined with lifestyle factors and/or toxic insults that predispose estrogen to become oxidised.
The incidence of prostate cancer increases with age. The majority of men in the US will acquire prostate cancer if they live beyond 65. It is a slow-growing cancer(more rapidly growing in younger men, however). For men over 65, the doubling time of a prostate cancer nodule is usually about 5 years. Compare this with the doubling time of a breast cancer nodule, which is about 3 to 4 months. If left untreated, prostate cancer tends to eventually metastasize to bones.
A case of estrogen dominance
Men are often wary of taking progesterone supplementation for fear it will induce female characteristics. This couldn’t be further from the truth. It is the hormone estrogen that is responsible for the characteristics of the female body.
In men, estrogen gradually rises with age, while saliva levels of progesterone and testosterone gradually fall with age. Thus, with aging, estrogen dominance occurs.
A clear sign of estrogen dominance in aging men is their tendency to develop breasts. This indicates these men are low in progesterone and testosterone.
We know that the prostate gland responds to the hormones estrodiol, progesterone, and testosterone, and that a man’s progesterone and testosterone levels fall as he ages. If, however, his estradiol levels continue to remain high he should consider himself in a state of ‘estrogen dominance’. And research right now is pointing an accusing finger at estradiol as an initiator and promoter of cancer.
Excess testosterone can spill over and become estrogen, causing water retention, prostate enlargement, atrophy of the genitals, decrease in libido, and cancer.
Being overweight is another factor to consider since fat cells convert into estrogens which then stimulates prostate growth.
As we know from breast cancer research, insulin resistance leads to estrogen dominance and an increased risk of breast cancer. It seems to be that the same pattern occurs in prostate cancer.
Regular exposure to xenoestrogens such as pesticides like home and garden sprays only add to the problem.
Middle aged men are not immuned to estrogen dominance that can lead to symptoms such as weight gain, large-than-normal breasts, gall bladder problems, anxiety and insomnia, and prostate enlargement that leads to urinary problems.
