Study Says Men With Short Ring Fingers Likelier to Survive Prostate Cancer

Ring finger length may help predict prostate cancer survival, claims study.

Tests showed that cancer victims responded better to an anti-tumour drug if their ring finger was shorter than the index finger - the finger next to the thumb.

Prostate Cancer Screening
PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) test and Digital Rectal Examination are two tests that allow detection of prostate cancer at early stages.

Testosterone is a hormone that is known to help prostate tumours grow.

Doctors who tested the theory on 142 volunteers found those with short ring fingers responded better to dutasteride, a drug that fights cancer by blocking the effects of testosterone on the prostate.

Numerous studies show finger length is linked to the risks of conditions ranging from heart disease and osteoarthritis to depression and Motor Neurone Disease.

Prostate Cancer: Treatment Options - Surgery, Radiation Therapy, Hormone Therapy
Treatment options of prostate cancer includes waiting, surgery, radiation, hormone therapy, chemotherapy, cryosurgery or biologic therapy.

The difference between the two fingers is determined by exposure to testosterone while a baby is still in the womb.

According to research, this can have a profound effect on health later in life.

Location Of Prostate Gland
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The risks increase with age, with men over 50 more likely to develop a tumour, and there is a strong genetic element to it.

However, the latest findings by experts at Seoul National University in South Korea suggest that doctors might soon be able to predict who will respond best to treatment by measuring men's fingers.

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Does your man drives a little too fast and doesn't care much about traffic rules? Well, then take a close look at his ring finger.

Although the men in the study did not have cancer, they did have enlarged prostates or benign prostatic hyperplasia - a common condition in men over 50 where the prostate grows and blocks the flow of urine.

Dutasteride has been used for several years to treat BPH and prostate cancer. The volunteers took the drug every day for six months.

When their prostate glands were measured to see if they had shrunk, there was a much bigger reduction in men with short ring fingers.

"These results suggest finger length might predict the response to dutasteride treatment," the Daily Mail quoted the researchers as writing in the report.

The study has been published in the British Journal of Urology.

Source-ANI