Prostate cancer linked to cholesterol levels
However, cholesterol levels only affected the incidence of high-grade prostate cancer, not low- or intermediate-grade cancers.
In addition to the finding concerning cholesterol levels, the data also revealed some leads on other factors that could cause different levels of risk for prostate cancer in different individuals.
"When we think about factors we want to take into account in our analysis, we think of those factors that are related to the exposures of cholesterol and factors that are related to the outcomes of prostate cancer," Platz said.
"Some of those factors are specifically risk factors for the prostate cancer cohort that we want to be able to take into account, and some of the other factors we know are from the real world."
Men with lower serum cholesterol levels were taller and more likely to have a history of diabetes and heart attack, but were less likely to have ever smoked. They were also likely to have consumed less alcohol, have eaten less red meat and have a lower PSA concentration, a marker that correlates to prostate tumors.
Men who were diagnosed with prostate cancer later were more likely to have a family history of prostate cancer, to be shorter, to use aspirin and to have a higher entry PSA, but were less likely to be diabetic or to have ever smoked.
The precise mechanism by which low cholesterol has this beneficial effect on the prognosis of prostate cancer remains undetermined. However, the original study from which the data was taken found that a certain metabolic pathway was blocked for an enzyme. Similar mechanisms may be at work with cholesterol possibly causing healthy cells to become cancerous.
Although the study employed a large sample size and a high level of control, though, there are still some confounding factors that may have made some men more prone to prostate cancer than others, such as health habits and medications being taken concurrently.
"Virtually all [of the study participants were] white, and that was reflective of the demography of the trial," Platz said. "I can't say for sure whether our results will generalize to other populations, but my guess would be the biology of what we're observing would be similar from population to population."
Additionally, other measures of cholesterol may be a better way to discover mechanisms concerning the relationship between serum total cholesterol and prostate cancer that was observed in this study.
"We are now planning to study the relationships between cholesterol subtypes, such as HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol - so called 'good' and 'bad' cholesterol and prostate cancer risk," Platz said.
"Our recommendation is to keep cholesterol in the normal range, and if they just follow that recommendation, it's possible that they may also be preventing developing of high-grade prostate cancer. We can't know for sure, but we found it to be true that the current recommendation is already helping," she said.
In addition to the finding concerning cholesterol levels, the data also revealed some leads on other factors that could cause different levels of risk for prostate cancer in different individuals.
"When we think about factors we want to take into account in our analysis, we think of those factors that are related to the exposures of cholesterol and factors that are related to the outcomes of prostate cancer," Platz said.
"Some of those factors are specifically risk factors for the prostate cancer cohort that we want to be able to take into account, and some of the other factors we know are from the real world."
Men with lower serum cholesterol levels were taller and more likely to have a history of diabetes and heart attack, but were less likely to have ever smoked. They were also likely to have consumed less alcohol, have eaten less red meat and have a lower PSA concentration, a marker that correlates to prostate tumors.
Men who were diagnosed with prostate cancer later were more likely to have a family history of prostate cancer, to be shorter, to use aspirin and to have a higher entry PSA, but were less likely to be diabetic or to have ever smoked.
The precise mechanism by which low cholesterol has this beneficial effect on the prognosis of prostate cancer remains undetermined. However, the original study from which the data was taken found that a certain metabolic pathway was blocked for an enzyme. Similar mechanisms may be at work with cholesterol possibly causing healthy cells to become cancerous.
Although the study employed a large sample size and a high level of control, though, there are still some confounding factors that may have made some men more prone to prostate cancer than others, such as health habits and medications being taken concurrently.
"Virtually all [of the study participants were] white, and that was reflective of the demography of the trial," Platz said. "I can't say for sure whether our results will generalize to other populations, but my guess would be the biology of what we're observing would be similar from population to population."
Additionally, other measures of cholesterol may be a better way to discover mechanisms concerning the relationship between serum total cholesterol and prostate cancer that was observed in this study.
"We are now planning to study the relationships between cholesterol subtypes, such as HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol - so called 'good' and 'bad' cholesterol and prostate cancer risk," Platz said.
"Our recommendation is to keep cholesterol in the normal range, and if they just follow that recommendation, it's possible that they may also be preventing developing of high-grade prostate cancer. We can't know for sure, but we found it to be true that the current recommendation is already helping," she said.
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