Prostate cancer linked to cholesterol levels
High cholesterol is one of the greatest contributors to the leading cause of death in America: heart disease. Cholesterol can come from different sources, ranging from a family history of high cholesterol to different foods, to stress.
Over half a million people die from heart disease every year. The cholesterol they accumulate in their blood stream clogs important blood vessels and leads to the failure of the heart and other vital organs.
Recently, researchers at the Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, collaborating with members of the Southwest Oncology group and other experts in the field, say there is now definitive evidence that lower levels of cholesterol can lead to a decrease in the risk for high-grade prostate cancer, the most aggressive and deadly form.
"In our prior study we looked at plasma cholesterol levels in men in the years before they had prostate cancer. Samples were stored away in the freezer, and we measured the cholesterol. Then we looked later at who had prostate cancer," Elizabeth Platz, co-director of the Cancer Prevention Program at the Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, said.
"We found that men who had low cholesterol had a lower risk of high-grade prostate cancer."
Since these findings were considered preliminary, the researchers decided to investigate this observation in a larger study.
"What we found in our recent studies was that again men who had low cholesterol that's in the normal range had a lower risk of diagnosis of high-grade prostate cancer," Platz, also an associate professor at the School of Public Health, said.
Studies published in 2006 and 2008, in which the use of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs was shown to be inversely associated with advanced stages of prostate cancer, had similar findings.
These scientists analyzed data from 5,586 men aged 55 and older who were originally enrolled in the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial. Nearly a quarter of the men were diagnosed with prostate cancer over a period of three years.
Over half a million people die from heart disease every year. The cholesterol they accumulate in their blood stream clogs important blood vessels and leads to the failure of the heart and other vital organs.
Recently, researchers at the Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, collaborating with members of the Southwest Oncology group and other experts in the field, say there is now definitive evidence that lower levels of cholesterol can lead to a decrease in the risk for high-grade prostate cancer, the most aggressive and deadly form.
"In our prior study we looked at plasma cholesterol levels in men in the years before they had prostate cancer. Samples were stored away in the freezer, and we measured the cholesterol. Then we looked later at who had prostate cancer," Elizabeth Platz, co-director of the Cancer Prevention Program at the Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, said.
"We found that men who had low cholesterol had a lower risk of high-grade prostate cancer."
Since these findings were considered preliminary, the researchers decided to investigate this observation in a larger study.
"What we found in our recent studies was that again men who had low cholesterol that's in the normal range had a lower risk of diagnosis of high-grade prostate cancer," Platz, also an associate professor at the School of Public Health, said.
Studies published in 2006 and 2008, in which the use of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs was shown to be inversely associated with advanced stages of prostate cancer, had similar findings.
These scientists analyzed data from 5,586 men aged 55 and older who were originally enrolled in the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial. Nearly a quarter of the men were diagnosed with prostate cancer over a period of three years.
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