Perioperative substitution testosterone therapy in patients with advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Dubravko Manestar, Goran Malvic, Marko Velepic, Jelena Vukelic, Ilinko Vrebac, Filip Tudor, Ivan Vukelic, Tamara Braut

Journal: Critical reviews in oncology/hematology 2023;188():104062

PMID: 37385306

Full Text on Elsevier Science View on PubMed

Abstract

Testosterone replacement therapy is becoming more and more popular in men as "anti-aging medicine". Testosterone has beneficial effects on body mass and muscle gain, and much research has examined testosterone in palliative cancer therapy for oncology patients. In addition to direct effects on weight gain, testosterone improves mood and self-confidence, strength, libido, muscle mass, bone density, and cognitive functions and reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. Lower testosterone levels are found in 65 % of male patients with progressive tumors compared to only 6 % of men in the general population. We hypothesize that perioperative substitution testosterone therapy (PSTT) together with a balanced diet, may be more effective than balanced diet alone in the overall treatment outcome of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. Therefore, PSTT in combination with a balanced diet should be considered as an additional tool for head and neck carcinoma treatment.

Address: Clinic for Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Clinical Hospital Centre Rijeka, Kresimirova 42, Rijeka, Croatia; Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Brace Branchetta 20, Rijeka, Croatia.; Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Brace Branchetta 20, Rijeka, Croatia; Department for Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, Clinical Hospital Centre Rijeka, Kresimirova 42, Rijeka, Croatia.; Clinic for Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Clinical Hospital Centre Rijeka, Kresimirova 42, Rijeka, Croatia; Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Brace Branchetta 20, Rijeka, Croatia. Electronic address: [email protected].; Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Brace Branchetta 20, Rijeka, Croatia; Clinic for Urology, Clinical Hospital Centre Rijeka, Tome Strizica 3, Rijeka, Croatia.

DOI: 10.1016/j.critrevonc.2023.104062

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MeSH Terms: Humans, Male, Testosterone, Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck, Aging, Head and Neck Neoplasms, Bone Density