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Dementia tied to hormone-blocking prostate cancer treatment

In this May 19, 2015, file photo, a doctor points to PET scan results that are part of a study on Alzheimer's disease at a hospital in Washington. Scientists know that long before the memory problems of Alzheimer's become obvious, people experience more subtle changes in their thinking and judgment. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
In this May 19, 2015, file photo, a doctor points to PET scan results that are part of a study on Alzheimer's disease at a hospital in Washington. Scientists know that long before the memory problems of Alzheimer's become obvious, people experience more subtle changes in their thinking and judgment. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) In this May 19, 2015, file photo, a doctor points to PET scan results that are part of a study on Alzheimer's disease at a hospital in Washington. Scientists know that long before the memory problems of Alzheimer's become obvious, people experience more subtle changes in their thinking and judgment. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

By Associated Press 3 min read

CHICAGO (AP) – Alzheimer’s disease may be a risk for older prostate cancer patients given hormone-blocking treatment, a large, U.S. government-funded analysis found.

Previous evidence has been mixed on whether the treatment might be linked with mental decline. But experts say the new results stand out because they’re from a respected national cancer database and the men were tracked for a long time – eight years on average.

Among 154,000 older patients, 13% who received hormone-blocking treatment developed Alzheimer’s, compared with 9% who had other treatment or chose no therapy, the study found.

The risk for dementia from strokes or other causes was higher: It was diagnosed in 22% of those who got hormone-blocking treatment, versus 16% of the other patients.

The results, using perhaps one of the largest and most reliable databases, suggests there truly may be a connection, said Dr. Sumanta Pal, a prostate cancer expert with the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Pal was not involved in the study.