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A drug used to treat urinary problems and enlarged prostates, could help men ward off prostate cancer, according to a new study.

The drug finasteride — sold generically as proscar — is a synthetic antiandrogen which acts by inhibiting type II 5-alpha reductase, the enzyme that converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT). It is used as a treatment in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in low doses, and prostate cancer in higher doses.

Finasteride can cut the odds of being diagnosed with prostate cancer by about 25%, reports Fox News.

Both the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Urological Association are encouraging men to talk with their doctors to see if the drug is right for them.

“These men may represent an ideal target group for discontinuation of PSA testing, which could dramatically reduce the costs associated with screening as well as the potential morbidity of additional evaluations and/or treatment in a population unlikely to experience benefit,” the researchers wrote.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among Canadian men.  In 2008, an estimated 24,700 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and 4,300 will die of it.