Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41024043›Full record

ArticleJournal of medical case reports2025

The safety and efficacy of finasteride for transgender men with androgenetic alopecia: a case series.

Yusuke Tominaga, Tomoko Kobayashi, Yuko Matsumoto, Tomoko Sako, Takatoshi Moriwake, Satoshi Horii, Takuya Sadahira, Satoshi Katayama, Takehiro Iwata, Shingo Nishimura and 4 more

Abstract readCase Reports
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of medical case reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Yusuke TominagaDepartment of Urology, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-5-1, Shikata-Chou, Kita-Ku, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan. p3uq1s4o@s.okayama-u.ac.jp.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3382-7990
Tomoko KobayashiDepartment of Urology, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-5-1, Shikata-Chou, Kita-Ku, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan.
Yuko MatsumotoDepartment of Urology, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-5-1, Shikata-Chou, Kita-Ku, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan.
Tomoko SakoDepartment of Urology, Hiroshima City Hiroshima Citizens Hospital, Hiroshima, Japan.
Takatoshi MoriwakeDepartment of Urology, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-5-1, Shikata-Chou, Kita-Ku, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan.
Satoshi HoriiDepartment of Urology, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-5-1, Shikata-Chou, Kita-Ku, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan.
Takuya SadahiraDepartment of Urology, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-5-1, Shikata-Chou, Kita-Ku, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan.
Satoshi KatayamaDepartment of Urology, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-5-1, Shikata-Chou, Kita-Ku, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan.
Takehiro IwataDepartment of Urology, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-5-1, Shikata-Chou, Kita-Ku, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan.
Shingo NishimuraDepartment of Urology, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-5-1, Shikata-Chou, Kita-Ku, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan.
Kensuke BekkuDepartment of Urology, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-5-1, Shikata-Chou, Kita-Ku, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan.
Kohei EdamuraDepartment of Urology, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-5-1, Shikata-Chou, Kita-Ku, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan.
Masami WatanabeCenter for Innovative Clinical Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Okayama, Japan.
Motoo ArakiDepartment of Urology, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-5-1, Shikata-Chou, Kita-Ku, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTestosterone replacement therapy is commonly used in transgender men for masculinization. One of the most common adverse effects of testosterone replacement therapy is androgenetic alopecia. In Japan, finasteride is approved exclusively for cisgender men and is not indicated for transgender men. The aim of this clinical trial was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of finasteride in transgender men with androgenetic alopecia. CASE PRESENTATION: This study included three transgender men (assigned female at birth, identifying as male), aged 44, 43, and 29 years. All participants were of Asian ethnicity. A clinical trial was conducted from October 2021 to December 2023. Transgender men aged 20-60 years who had not undergone hysterectomy, were undergoing testosterone replacement therapy, and who had been diagnosed with stage ≥ II androgenetic alopecia on the basis of the Norwood-Hamilton scale were recruited. The participants initiated treatment with 0.2 mg of finasteride per day for 3 months (phase 1). If no adverse events above grade 2 occurred, the dose was increased to 1.0 mg per day for an additional 3 months (phase 2). The primary endpoints were the incidence of treatment-related adverse events at 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months, as well as the rate of participants continuing treatment at 3 months. None of the patients experienced serious adverse events at 3 months, and all the patients extended their treatment to a total of 6 months. Improvements of at least one stage on the N-H scale were observed, but two participants experienced resumption of menstruation.

conclusionFinasteride appears to be a safe and effective treatment for androgenetic alopecia in transgender men undergoing testosterone replacement therapy. However, its potential for reducing some of the effects of testosterone replacement therapy warrants further investigation.

trial registrationjRCT, jRCTs061210040, registered 7 October 2021, https://jrct.mhlw.go.jp/latest-detail/jRCTs061210040 .

Indexed as

5-alpha Reductase InhibitorsAlopeciaFinasterideTestosteroneTransgender PersonsAdultFemaleHormone Replacement TherapyHumansMaleMiddle AgedTreatment Outcome5-alpha Reductase InhibitorsFinasterideTestosteroneAndrogenetic alopeciaDihydrotestosteroneFinasterideResumption of menstruationTransgender men

Identifiers

PMID41024043
PMCPMC12482827

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.