WEDNESDAY, May 7 (HealthDay News) -- A new clinical guideline on screening for osteoporosis in men has been developed by the American College of Physicians (ACP), which notes that osteoporosis rates among men are expected to increase 50 percent over the next 15 years.

Osteoporosis-related fractures in men result in substantial disease, death and health costs, and the one-year death rate in men after hip fracture is twice that of women.

"Older men, especially those over the age of 65, need to be assessed regularly for risk factors for osteoporosis," Dr. Amir Qaseem, senior medical associate in ACP's clinical programs and quality of care department, said in a prepared statement. "Osteoporosis is not just a woman's disease. It is significantly under-diagnosed and under-treated in men. Not enough older men are being screened."

Risk factors for osteoporosis in men include: older age, low body weight, weight loss, physical inactivity, previous fractures not caused by substantial trauma, low-calcium diets, and ongoing use of certain drugs, such as corticosteroids like prednisone or drugs that are sometimes used to treat prostate cancer.

The new guideline says doctors should periodically assess older men for osteoporosis risk factors and should order a DEXA (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) scan for men who are at increased risk for osteoporosis and are candidates for drug therapy.

The guideline, based on a review of previously published studies, was published in the May 6 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Current U.S. rates of osteoporosis are estimated to be 7 percent in white men, 5 percent in black men, and 3 percent in Hispanic men. However, osteoporosis rates among U.S. men are expected to increase almost 50 percent in the next 15 years, and hip fracture rates could double by 2040, according to background information in a news release about the new guideline.

The National Osteoporosis Foundation recommends a bone mineral density test for men aged 70 and older. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force doesn't have an osteoporosis screening recommendation for men.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases has more about osteoporosis in men.

FRIDAY, May 2 (HealthDay News) -- Spanish researchers report they may have found a way to tell which suspicious prostate lesions are likely to develop into cancer.

The findings, published in the May 1 issue of Clinical Cancer Research, show a link between high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (HG-PIN) lesions and the PTOV1 gene. The more PTOV1 the lesion expresses, the more likely cancer will develop. The report also backs the reverse -- that the lack of PTOV1 means a reduced risk of prostate cancer.

PTOV1 is a protein that researchers don't fully understand the function of, but they have previously found too much of it appears to promote the spread of cancer cells.

If subsequent studies confirm PTOV1 as a biomarker for prostate cancer, it could help men with the lesions avoid repeated needle biopsies.

"Those patients with a high PTOV1 score should undergo an immediate repeat biopsy," study author Rosanna Paciucci, a researcher at the Vall d'Hebron Hospital Research Institute in Barcelona, said in a prepared statement. But those with low PTOVI may not need to receive future "annoying and useless" biopsies, she said. "We estimate that we can save 40 percent of unnecessary biopsies -- those that are repetitively negative and contain HG-PIN lesions that do not develop into cancer."

HG-PIN, while present in most cancerous prostates, is a pre-malignant lesion and, given its association with other cancers, it is often repeatedly biopsied when found. Past studies have put the average risk of cancer being diagnosed in a HG-PIN biopsy at between 20 percent and 30 percent, the researchers said. However, none of these studies were to tell which lesions would progress to cancer, the researchers say.

Paciucci cautioned that her team's results need to be confirmed through a larger study group. "From this validation, we can expect to improve the current rate of early detection of cancer," she said.

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about prostate cancer.