Men who take hormone therapy for prostate cancer may have a higher risk of depression than patients who receive different treatment, a U.S. study suggests, NBC News reported.
Researchers focused on a common treatment known as androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), which works by depriving tumor cells of testosterone. Side effects can include sexual dysfunction, weight gain and fatigue.
Patients with prostate cancer who received hormone therapy were 23 percent more likely to develop depression and 29 percent more likely to have inpatient psychiatric treatment than men who received alternative treatments, the study found.
"The take-home message is that the list of potential side effects of hormone therapy is continuing to grow," said senior study author Dr. Paul Nguyen of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.
