Men who start balding in their 20s are at twice the risk of developing prostate cancer at an older age, finds a new study French and Canadian scientists studied 669 men, some of whom were middle aged and others are older men. 388 of them had a history of prostate cancer. The study matched the two groups by age and other factors. 9.5 percent of those with prostate cancer reported beginning baldness after age 20. For comparison, at the same age, the process begins in 5% of men who do not have cancer. The reasons for the strong correlation between early baldness and prostate cancer may be twofold. The first is genetic, and the second reason may be due to high testosterone levels, which may be responsible for both health problems. The relationship can be explained by a combination of these two factors, believes Prof. Philippe Giraud of the Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy at Georges Pompidou Hospital in Paris. The current study, however, did not address this mechanism. Baldness at a young age is only one potential risk factor for prostate cancer. The others are age, family history, diet, lifestyle and ethnicity, explains Dr Kate Holmes of the Prostate Cancer Foundation. According to her, baldness in itself is unlikely to be a determining factor in the development of the disease. The results of the study were published in the journal “Annals of Oncology”.