“Proscar is the first medicine that was approved for reducing the size of the prostate in order to help with prostate blockage,” explains Dr. Barry Blitz, a urologist on the medical staff of Lee Memorial Health System.

Proscar is a pill that promises to help in the fight against prostate cancer, but urologists like Dr. Blitz caution the drug hasn’t lived up to the expectation entirely. “Medications such as Flomax, Uroixotrol, ones that actually relax the prostate, turn out better at reducing prostate trouble, however, the use of Proscar was very important in that it helps shrink the gland,” says Dr. Blitz.

A recent study looked at men who were taking Proscar, Flomax and other medications versus those that weren’t. It found Proscar reduced the prostate cancer risk by about 25% but with the results comes some hesitation. “The problem is this study is not based on 15-20 year data. Its based on much shorter data so its hard to extrapolate how the effects are going to be long term regarding the use of Proscar and prostate cancer,” adds Dr. Blitz.

Doctors are also increasing the use of hormone shots, but that’s not a permanent fix. “Proscar can reduce PSA, can reduce the risk of prostate cancer. It’s not known if 5, 10, 15 years it can actually turn something that’s mild prostate cancer into more aggressive form. For that reason, general recommendations to use Proscar in all men have yet to be validated,” explains Dr. Blitz.

Prostate cancer is the second most deadly cancer in men after lung cancer.