High cholesterol linked to prostate cancer risk

LONDON, Apr 12 (Reuters) Men with high cholesterol levels, particularly if they were detected before the age of 50, may have an increased risk of developing prostate cancer, Italian scientists said today.

They discovered an association between prostate cancer and raised cholesterol in a study of more than 2,750 men, published online by the journal Annals of Oncology.

''We have found a possible relation between high cholesterol and prostate cancer. It was self-reported by patients,'' Dr Francesca Bravi, of the Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri in Milan, said in an interview.

After considering other potential confounding factors, Bravi and her team said men with prostate cancer in the study were around 50 percent more likely to have had high cholesterol levels than men without the disease.

Prostate is one of the most common cancers in men. Each year 543,000 new cases are reported worldwide and the disease kills 200,000 mostly older men in developed countries.

High cholesterol levels had been thought before to be linked to the disease but most of the evidence was in animal studies. The new research shows a statistically significant relationship, according to Bravi and her team.

The scientists said the association was stronger for men whose high cholesterol levels had been diagnosed before they were 50 and for men over 65, where there was an 80 per cent greater likelihood of high cholesterol levels.

They also found that prostate cancer patients in the study were 26 percent more likely to have suffered from gallstones, which are often related to high cholesterol levels.

Dr Cristina Bosetti, a co-author of the study, said hormones called androgens that play a role in prostate tissue and cancer are synthesised from cholesterol. Gallstones are also often composed of cholesterol.

''So, the direct relationship we found between gallstones and prostate cancer, while it was not statistically significant, suggests a similar biological mechanism may explain the link,'' Bosetti said.

The scientists added that cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins may help to lower a man's prostate cancer risk. Statins have also been shown to help prevent diabetics and people at high risk of heart disease from suffering a heart attack or stroke.

But Bravi said further studies are needed to determine whether statins could reduce the risk of prostate cancer because current research is limited and inconclusive.

Reuters KD DB1048