Overview
- Researchers reported in Nature that lowering male hormones in mouse glioblastoma models sped tumor growth by triggering inflammation in the hypothalamus and overactivating the stress-hormone HPA axis.
- The HPA surge increased barriers that keep immune cells out of the brain, creating an immunosuppressive environment where tumors advanced more freely.
- The effect was sex-specific in animals, as adding testosterone did not show the same benefit in female mice.
- In an analysis of more than 1,300 men with glioblastoma from the NCI SEER database, patients on prescribed testosterone for noncancer reasons had a 38% lower risk of death than those not on the hormone.
- The authors urged clinical trials to test causality and cautioned that the human data are observational and that androgen-deprivation used for other cancers could be harmful in glioblastoma.