Men who take even small amounts of common
cholesterol-lowering drugs such as Lovastatin and Simvastatin have a significantly reduced risk of
prostate cancer, according to a new study by
Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute researchers.
“If these results are confirmed in a larger prospective study, they may provide necessary evidence to consider the use of cholesterol-lowering drugs in prostate cancer prevention. Currently, no preventive measures are available for prostate cancer,” said Jackilen Shannon, Ph.D., R.D., a ssistant professor of public health and preventive medicine in the OHSU School of Medicine, member of the OHSU Cancer Institute and lead author of the study.
Shannon’s research suggests that men who have taken any amount of these drugs, known as statins, have a 58 percent lower risk of prostate cancer than men who have taken none at all. Shannon presented study results at the American Society for Clinical Oncology annual meeting in New Orleans, La., on June 6, 2004.
“We were interested in the relationship between statin use and prostate cancer because recent research has demonstrated that in a number of tumor types, statins also induce cancer cell death and growth arrest,” Shannon said.
Shannon and colleagues evaluated the association between statin use and prostate cancer risk in a population of older veterans enrolled in a case-control study of diet and prostate cancer risk.
“Our data suggest statins may also impact PSA production,” Shannon said. In addition to being associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer, statins were associated with a 55 percent lower risk of an elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level. Certain prostate conditions, including prostate cancer, can cause high levels of PSA in the blood. PSA levels are monitored to help predict the presence and progression of prostate cancer.
In a retrospective study, researchers reviewed records of men who were referred to a Veterans Affairs Medical Center for a prostate biopsy. Cases reviewed for this study include those of 72men diagnosed with prostate cancer, 150 who had negative biopsies, and 208 whose PSAs were normal. Data on their statin use was pulled from the Veterans Affairs’ electronic pharmacy database.
“Because the cases reviewed were part of a larger study of diet and prostate cancer risk that included extensive diet questionnaires, we were able to adjust our statin study data for many different factors, including cholesterol in the diet, and total fat and calorie intake,” Shannon said. Data also was adjusted for age, body mass index and race.