Commentary on "The association between sexual function and prostate cancer risk in US veterans"

REFERENCES 1 Zapata DF, Howard LE, Frank J, Simon RM, Hoyo C, et al. The association between sexual function and prostate cancer risk in US veterans. Asian J Androl 2017; 2: 191–5. 2 Araujo AB, Esche GR, Kupelian V, O’Donnell AB, Travison TG, et al. Prevalence of symptomatic androgen deficiency in men. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2007; 92: 4241–7. 3 Wang C, Swerdloff RS, Iranmanesh A, Dobs A, Snyder PJ, et al. Transdermal testosterone gel improves sexual function, mood, muscle strength, and body composition parameters in hypogonadal men. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2000; 85: 2839–53. Dear Editor, We read with interest the article by Zapata et al.1 published in Asian Journal of Andrology. With data from 448 veteran men and using logistic regression analysis, this study the first time demonstrated that higher sexual function was associated with a decreased risk of prostate cancer. This association was hypothesized on that sexual dysfunction is a harbinger of heart disease, and prostate cancer and heart disease share similar risk factors; however, the mediation effect of testosterone (T) activity on the association can never be ignored. Although it has been discussed as one alternative explanation of the association in the article, in my opinion, it is not enough. Sexual dysfunction was a well-established clinical symptom of low serum T,2 and usage of T replacement therapy (TRT) which can increase serum T concentration of hypogonadal men to normal level can remarkably improve the symptom.3 Thus, it is highly possible that the T-mediated pathway tells most of the story between sexual dysfunction and risk of prostate cancer. Second, although exclusion criterion taken in this study included many items, an extremely important one – TRT history LETTER TO THE EDITOR