Study links 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 tumour 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 emphasised the importance of eating a healthy diet.

Chris Hiley, head of policy and research at the Prostate Cancer Charity said: "This is very interesting research which may help to explain why prostate cancer is common in the westernised, developed world.

"It also suggests that if men make lifestyle changes and adopt a healthy, low cholesterol diet it might reduce their risk of prostate cancer. Further research is needed to confirm this, but in the meantime the health benefits of a varied diet are indisputable."

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.

Dr Francesca Bravi, lead author of the study, added: "We also found that prostate cancer patients were 26 per cent more likely to have suffered from gallstones than our controls, with an apparently higher relationship in thinner men."

"Although that figure was not statistically significant, gallstones are often related to high cholesterol levels."

By Jeremy Laurance