Does Male Pattern Balding Increase the Risk of Colon Cancer?

Male Balding is Associated with An Increased Risk for Colon Cancer.

A 2016 study from Boston suggested that male pattern balding, particularly frontal balding or frontal balding with mild vertex balding increased the risk that a male with develop colon cancer.

At the beginning of the study, males were asked to indicate which one of five hair loss patterns best described their hair loss at age 45. These five categories included:

no baldness, frontal-only baldness, frontal-plus-mild-vertex baldness, frontal-plus-moderate-vertex baldness, and frontal-plus-severe-vertex baldness).

The authors then followed a large series of men for a follow up period that lasted 15.6 years on average.

Results of this study indicated a significantly increased risk of colon cancer with males who reported they had frontal-only baldness at age 45 or frontal-plus-mild-vertex baldness relative.. The respective hazard ratios were 1.29 (95% CI, 1.03–1.62) and 1.31 (95% CI, 1.01–1.70) and were calculated relative to males who reported no balding at age 45.

Conclusion

This study suggested that males with frontal and frontal/mild vertex balding are at increased risk for colon cancer. An association between male balding and rectal cancer was not seen in this study - just colon cancer.

Reference

Keum et al. Male pattern baldness and risk of colorectal neoplasia .Br J Cancer. 2016 Jan 12;114(1):110-7.