This study, published at oxfordjournals.org, aimed to discover if early-onset male pattern baldness is linked to an increased risk of prostate cancer in later life.

Method

669 subjects (388 of whom had a family history of prostate cancer) were chosen for this long-term study. They were asked to judge their balding pattern at the ages of 20, 30 and 40 for comparison.

Result

Patients who developed prostate cancer were twice as likely to exhibit male pattern baldness at age 20. There was no correlation between early-onset androgenic alopecia and more aggressive forms of tumor, or earlier development of the disease. Likewise, the hair loss pattern had no association with development of the cancer.

In conclusion, the association between hair loss in early adulthood and developing prostate cancer looks to be well established.

It’s suggested that routine screening for prostate cancer could be useful, which seems to be a given. It should be remembered that prostate cancer is highly treatable.

Read more Early hair loss associated with increased prostate cancer risk