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PAPERS:
ITZHAK LEVAV, IRENA LIPSHITZ, ILYA NOVIKOV, INNA PUGACHOVA, ROBERT KOHN, MICHA BARCHANA, A. PONIZOVSKY, and HAIM WERNER
Cancer risk among parents and siblings of patients with schizophrenia
The British Journal of Psychiatry 2007; 190: 156-161 [Abstract] [Full text] [PDF]
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[Read eLetter] This could be due to reduced testosterone...
James M. Howard   (6 February 2007)

This could be due to reduced testosterone... 6 February 2007
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James M. Howard,
Biologist
independent

Send letter to journal:
Re: This could be due to reduced testosterone...

jmhoward{at}anthropogeny.com James M. Howard

It is my hypothesis that increased testosterone may trigger breast cancer and other cancers (International Journal of Cancer 2005; 115: 497).

It has been determined that "significantly lower serum levels of estradiol, oestrone, testosterone and free testosterone" occur in men with schizophrenia (Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2005 Jan;30(1):111-4) and "... findings support the occurrence of abnormal steroid concentrations in schizophrenic patients and suggest that lower T [testosterone] level in this disorder is related to the illness and normalizes with remission, while trait-related factors may contribute to lower serum E and C levels in schizophrenia." ( Indian J Med Sci. 2004 Jan;58(1):3-9).

I suggest the findings of Lavav, et al., may be explained by low testosterone levels in the schizophrenic population and close relatives who exhibit reduced cancer.