IF THERE WERE A PILL PROVEN TO PREVENT CANCER, WOULD PEOPLE TAKE IT? Apparently not.

UPDATE: A reader emails:

I was on finasteride a few months ago. A couple of points regarding this
drug:

1. It was not prescribed as cancer preventative. My doctor never even
mentioned that it could help prevent cancer.

2. It brought my libido down to zero.

These two points may help explain why finasteride isn’t used more widely.

You know, I thought Gina Kolata was a little quick to write these drugs off. Cancer prevention isn’t even an approved use of finasteride, and I’d never heard of that use.