Testosterone therapy and how long brain tumor patients lived
Original title: Protective effects of testosterone replacement therapy on brain tumor outcomes: The Mayo Clinic experience.
How far along is this research?
- Lab cells
- Animals
- Review
- Tested in people
This was tested in people. That is the most reliable kind of research we share.
Doctors only looked back at past patient records, so nothing is proven yet.
The short version
Patients who had been prescribed testosterone lived a little longer in this look back at hospital records.
What was studied. Doctors at Mayo Clinic looked back at records of adult patients. Some had glioblastoma: A glioma that is given grade 4. Grade 4 is the highest grade there is. The tumor grows fast. Treatment usually starts soon after it is found. It often means surgery, and then radiation and chemotherapy. See the glossary. Others had cancer that had spread to the brain or spine. The team checked who had been prescribed testosterone around the time of diagnosis.
What they found. Among patients whose cancer had spread to the brain or spine, testosterone use was linked to living longer. Over the first 24 months, that group lived 3.22 months longer on average. In the glioblastoma: A glioma that is given grade 4. Grade 4 is the highest grade there is. The tumor grows fast. Treatment usually starts soon after it is found. It often means surgery, and then radiation and chemotherapy. See the glossary group, testosterone use was also linked to living longer, by 5.81 months over the first 24 months.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: This raises a question worth testing. Hormones may play some part in how long people live with these tumors. It does not change treatment today. If you take testosterone or wonder about it, ask your own doctor.
What it doesn't mean: This does not mean testosterone treats brain tumors. The study only looked back at old records. It cannot show that testosterone caused the longer survival. Other differences between patients could explain what the doctors saw. The authors call this a starting point for future studies. It is far from everyday care, and it is not a promise of a cure.
Source: PubMed, October 7, 2026 · Read the original
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