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Study Links High Cholesterol to Prostate Cancer
Scientists have discovered the first direct evidence suggesting that high cholesterol levels could be a cause of prostate cancer. Earlier studies showed that cholesterol-lowering drugs, prescribed to reduce the risk of heart disease, also cut rates of prostate cancer.
But the mechanism of the effect was not clear and study findings had been inconclusive. It was thought that statins might interfere with the growth of the tumor once it was established rather than preventing it from developing. Now a new study of almost 1300 men with the cancer conducted by Italian researchers has found they were 50 per cent more likely to have had high cholesterol levels than a similar number of men without the cancer. Both groups were matched for age and state of health.
No relationship was observed between the cancer and 10 other medical conditions, suggesting the link with cholesterol is a real one. Cancer charities welcomed the finding, published online in Annals of Oncology , and said it emphasized the importance of eating a healthy diet. The research team, from the Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri in Milan, based their findings on data from 1991 and 2002 involving 1,294 men aged 75 and under with prostate cancer. They found the association between the cancer and high cholesterol levels was strongest in men diagnosed with the disease before the age of 50 or after the age of 65.
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