S9 TREATMENT: FINASTERIDE UPDATE
Whiting DA
Baylor Hair Research and Treatment Center, Dallas, Texas, USA

A 5 year US and International phase III study of 1553 patients with male pattern alopecia (MPA) showed that finasteride 1mg produced visible hair growth in 50% of patients at 1 year, 66% at 2 years, and 48% at 5 years. It prevented hair loss in 99% of patients at 1 year and 91% of patients at 5 years. 50% of 326 patients with frontal loss showed a 10% improvement on finasteride. Finasteride-induced hair gain was confirmed by phototrichogram, hair weight, scalp biopsy and identical twin studies. 40% of men aged 41 to 60 years with moderate vertex alopecia grew hair with finasteride. Finasteride 1mg did not regrow hair in 136 postmenopausal women with female pattern alopecia aged 18 to 60 years. Few side effects are encountered with finasteride 1mg. Recent studies suggest that sexual side effects are less common than reported in clinical trials. In the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial 18,882 men, aged 55 or older, were studied; half took finasteride 5mg daily and half placebo. After 7 years prostate cancer was reduced by 24.8% in the finasteride patients. However, finasteride patients who did develop prostatic cancer had 1.3% more cancers of higher malignancy than those in the placebo group. Therefore, men aged over 40, taking finasteride, must have annual medical examinations.