MIAMI – Testosterone replacement therapy is on the rise among American men and a new study examined which types of treatment are safer and more beneficial than others.
Researcher and urologist Dr.Ranjith Ramasamy with U-Health’s Desai Sethi Institute said the trial compared intramuscular forms of testosterone therapy, which are administered every two weeks, to intra-nasal testosterone gel, which is used two to three times a day.
He wanted to see the impact of either one on blood thickening, which is a major risk factor with testosterone therapy because it can lead to dangerous blood clots.
“What we found was remarkable. We found that the blood does not thicken almost at all in the men that used the intranasal gel and the blood definitely thickens in the men that used the injections so yes, it has to be used frequently, yes it has to be used as a nasal gel but there are lots of benefits to using it that way, because it appears to be a lot safer than the traditional forms of injections,” Ramasamy said.
The F.D.A. Recently approved three types of oral testosterone therapy, which will provide even more options for patients.
And a new trial is showing promise in preventing recurrence of the most common form of breast cancer.
The study involved the use of an existing drug called Kisqali in patients with early-stage HR+ HER2 Negative breast cancer.
When Kisqali was added to endocrine therapy, it reduced the risk of recurrence by 25 percent, and more than 90-percent of patients were cancer-free after three years.
Oncologists say the findings are ‘exciting’ but more longer-term data is needed.
Also, the drug is expensive, costing up to $15,000 a month.