UroToday - Prostasol and Venous Thromboembolism - Abstract

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Monday, 14 July 2008

Division

of Hematology-Oncology and Department of Medicine,Beth

Israel Deaconess

Medical Center

and Harvard Medical

School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

To create

physician awareness of complementary and alternative medicine therapy use in

patients with prostate cancer so that physicians can monitor for adverse

events. Approximately one fourth to one third of patients diagnosed with

prostate cancer reported complementary and alternative medicine use, and many

of these patients are taking a supplement called " Dr. Donsbach's

Prostasol. "

We

discuss the cases of 2 patients with prostate cancer who were taking Dr.

Donsbach's Prostasol and developed venous thromboembolic events while taking

this supplement, in the absence of other obvious risk factors. We review these

2 cases and the time-line for the development of the venous thromboembolic

events and use of Dr. Donsbach's Prostasol. We compared Prostasol with PC-SPES,

a similar supplement that was associated with thrombosis and was ultimately

taken off the market because of patient safety concerns.

Prostasol

contains phytoestrogens that could result in both the suppression of

testosterone and the predisposition to thrombosis. Both patients had

suppression of their testosterone to castrate levels with an associated

decrease in prostate-specific antigen at the time of their thrombotic event.

These

cases are suggestive of an association between Prostasol use and venous

thromboembolic events. Physicians should be aware of the use of this agent in their

patients, although it is not known whether it would be appropriate to prescribe

prophylactic low-dose warfarin therapy. If possible, additional study of

complementary and alternative medicine therapies for safety and efficacy are

indicated.

Written by

Clement J, Bubley G.

Reference

Urology. 2008 Jul 2. Epub ahead of print.

doi:10.1016/j.urology.2008.04.045

PubMed

Abstract

PMID:18602145