Preliminary Report on Finasteride (Proscar) Studies

Finasteride inhibits the enzyme which converts testosterone to DHT, the most important androgen in pattern balding. It is FDA approved for prostate enlargement and is undergoing clinical trials for pattern loss. David Whiting, MD, (Dallas) reports the following in the Sept-Oct, 1995 edition of "Hair Transplant Forum"

1) At six months and at twelve months respectively,, 36 % and 52% of patients on oral Finasteride ( e.g., 5 mg/day ) showed at least a 10% gain in number of hairs in a sample one inch circle.

2) Visible changes were seen in the appearance of patients.

3) It may take as long as twelve months for results to occur with many patients.

4) Side-effects seem to be minimal at the doses used.

A few comments:

1) This seems comparable with the results with topicial antiandrogens such as spironolactone. I.e, it doesn't work super well or very quickly, but it does work. BTW, this is in line with a lot of things in dermatology. E.g., Retin-A, the best topical agent we have for acne, is only 67% effective.

2) As with, e.g., spironolactone, the best treatment will probably be to use Proscar in combination with hair-growth stimulators such as minoxidil or one of the newer pyridine-N oxides, etc. Antiandrogens seem to make such compounds work better and ( most importantly ) apparently prevent tolerance to the effects of the drug from developing. BTW, I've got the European patent for antiandrogens plus hair-growth stimulators.

Again, please address all questions to the Newsgroup so I don't have to keep answering the same ones. You may think your case is unique, but the causes of hairloss are very stereotyped.

Peter H. Proctor, PhD, MD