How testosterone went from prostate cancer villain to potential ally

For more than 80 years, men have been told that testosterone helps prostate cancer grow. But a very different picture has emerged over the past two decades.

The prostate is a small gland that sits just below the bladder. Its job is to produce the fluid that helps transport sperm, and it relies heavily on testosterone to do so. In fact, the prostate is one of the body parts most affected by testosterone.

All prostate cells, whether healthy or cancerous, contain androgen receptors.