My hospital is currently running low for the stock of finasteride, and they changed finasteride 5mg to dutasteride 0.5mg.
Rationale :
1) Preliminary data from a 2-year study comparing dutasteride (0.5-milligram (mg) daily or greater) and finasteride indicated greater decreases in serum dihydrotestosterone with dutasteride after 24 weeks of treatment (at least 95% versus 70%)
Anon: FDC Reports: The Pink Sheet: GSK Dutasteride vs Merck Proscar data for BPH expected by mid-2002. November 26 2001a; 63(48):3
2) Patients with symptomatic BPH who receive dutasteride or finasteride, either as monotherapy or combination therapy with α-blockers, can expect to experience significant prostate gland size reduction, improved symptoms, and reduced risk of progression in terms of long-term adverse outcomes.
Nickel JC. Comparison of Clinical trials with finasteride and dutasteride. Rev Urol 2004; 6: S31-S39.
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Just to draw the attention to the potential risk of male breast cancer caused by finasteride.
ReplyDeleteThe Dec 2009 issue of Drug Safety Update by the Medicines & Healthcare Product Regulatory Agency highlights that cases of male breast cancer have been reported in clinical trials
(Proscar) and during post-marketing use (Proscar and Propecia) with finasteride treatment.
The inhibition of type II 5α-reductase by finasteride leads to decreases in DHT levels that are accompanied by increases in testosterone and oestradiol levels, which implicates an increased risk of breast cancer.
In view of this, patients should be advised to promptly report to their doctor any changes in their breast tissue such as lumps, pain, or nipple discharge.