Effects of androgen therapy on prostatic markers in hemodialyzed patients.

We have prospectively studied the evolution of serum levels of the prostatic-specific antigen and prostatic acid phosphatase in 14 male hemodialyzed patients, receiving a cycle of nandrolone decanoate (200 mg intramuscularly, once a week, for six months) as treatment for anemia. Androgen administration did not produce significant increases in serum concentrations of both tumor markers (basal: 0.9 +/- 0.5 and 0.7 +/- 0.3 ng/ml; at six months: 1.3 +/- 1.1 and 0.8 +/- 0.7 ng/ml respectively). Only one patient had a value of prostatic-specific antigen over the normal range: 4.2 ng/mol at the sixth month period, with a rapid decrease after the withdrawal of androgens. All the remaining values of both markers were within the normal range. In another six patients undergoing a prolonged treatment with androgens (between 9 to 24 months), the serum levels of prostatic-specific antigen and prostatic acid phosphatase were within the normal range in all of them. Nandrolone decanoate administration does not induce increases in prostate tumor markers when it is used as treatment for anemia in hemodialyzed patients.