Lowering cholesterol levels may not be just heart-healthy, but it may lower the risk of prostate cancer as well. Dr. Keith Solomon of Children’s Hospital in Boston found that high cholesterol may contribute to the growth and progression of prostate cancer.
Solomon’s findings build on previous studies linking a high-fat “Western” diet with the incidence of cancerous prostate tumors, which contain high levels of cholesterol.
Dr. Solomon and his colleagues fed mice a high fat/high cholesterol Western diet. They found that high cholesterol promoted tumor growth while the cholesterol-lowering drug ezetimibe (Zetia), which blocks the absorption of cholesterol from the intestine, inhibited tumor growth. The drug also slowed angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels which is required for a tumor to grow and spread.
In an article published in the March issue of The American Journal of Pathology, Solomon stated “Cholesterol reduction, which is routinely accomplished pharmacologically in humans, may reduce angiogenesis, ultimately leading to less aggressive tumors.
“Lowering cholesterol levels whether through diet, exercise, or the use of safe cholesterol-lowering drugs is known to provide a substantial benefit to patients—in the future it may be possible to add reduced risk of serious prostate cancer to that list of benefits.”
Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in the United States and affects approximately 1 in 6 men.
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