Could Hair Loss at 20 Signal Higher Prostate Cancer Risk?

Men with prostate cancer may be twice as likely to have started showing signs of male pattern bluntness at the age of 20 than those without prostate cancer, a new French study suggests.

Men who start down their hair in their 30s or 40s do not appear to face a similar boost in prostate cancer risk. And those whose hair loss starts in their 20s do not face a higher risk of developing the cancer at an early age or of developing more aggressive tumors, the research team noted.

But we do know that there are genetic factors that make prostate cancer more common," Stone said. "For example, men who have a first-degree relative an uncle, father or brother who have a analysis of prostate cancer are 2.5 to three times more likely to develop prostate cancer themselves than men who don't have such a history. And genetics also plays a role in men who develop early hair loss."

"So, you have two genetically related factors that there may be an association from, and each may be linked to early high male hormone levels. So it may be a hormonally related situation," Stone acknowledged. "But it's very hard to prove."