New Androgen Society Position Paper Affirms Cardiovascular Safety of Testosterone Therapy

PASADENA, Calif. — October 22, 2024 — A new international position paper co-authored by Dr. Robert A. Kloner, Chief Science Officer and Scientific Director of Cardiovascular Research at Huntington Medical Research Institutes (HMRI), concludes that testosterone therapy (TTh) is not associated with increased cardiovascular risk.

Published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, the article — “Androgen Society Position Paper on Cardiovascular Risk With Testosterone Therapy” — responds to findings from the landmark TRAVERSE trial, a large, randomized, placebo-controlled study of 5,246 men at elevated cardiovascular risk.

The TRAVERSE study, published in 2023, found no greater incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) — including heart attack, stroke, or cardiovascular death — among men receiving testosterone therapy compared to placebo over an average of nearly three years.

The Androgen Society’s position paper, authored by Abraham Morgentaler, Sandeep Dhindsa, Adrian Dobs, Geoff Hackett, T. Hugh Jones, Robert A. Kloner, Martin Miner, Michael Zitzmann, and Abdulmaged Traish, reviews decades of research and concludes that this safety finding is consistent across multiple randomized trials, large observational studies, and 19 meta-analyses.

“The totality of evidence now clearly shows that testosterone therapy does not increase cardiovascular risk,” said Dr. Kloner. “This represents an important step toward aligning clinical practice with contemporary science.”

The paper also notes that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 2015 cardiovascular warning on testosterone products was based on early, methodologically limited studies. The new evidence base — anchored by TRAVERSE — provides strong reassurance for clinicians treating men with testosterone deficiency.

Full article: Mayo Clinic Proceedings, October 2024