Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have come up with another reason for men to watch their diets: Low cholesterol might protect them from the most aggressive form of prostate cancer.
This isn’t the first time medical researchers have linked fats to cancer and its consequences. Recent studies have linked obesity to higher death rates from several types of the disease, and a previous Johns Hopkins study found that men on cholesterol-lowering drugs were less likely to develop fast-growing prostate tumors.
“We already know that maintaining a good range of cholesterol concentrations is important for cardiovascular health,” said Elizabeth A. Platz, epidemiologist of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins. “Now we know there may be a benefit for other diseases, possibly prostate cancer.”
The scientists found no difference in the cholesterol levels of men with and without prostate cancer. But they did discover that men with low cholesterol were less likely to get aggressive cancers.
“What we’re thinking is that cholesterol doesn’t seem to influence the initial development of the disease,” Platz said. “Maybe it affects the progression of the disease and the differentiation status” — alterations in the appearance of prostate cells when they become aggressively cancerous.
Men with high-grade prostate cancer are also more likely to suffer a recurrence after having their prostates removed.
According to Platz, men do not have to be concerned about lowering their cholesterol to abnormal levels. Those less likely to develop aggressive tumors had cholesterol levels in the same range considered healthy for the cardiovascular system.
Overall, men whose cholesterol levels were no greater than 165 milligrams per deciliter of blood had the lower rates of high-grade prostate cancer. Platz, however, warned against interpreting this as a benchmark, saying the threshold differed from one subgroup to another. What the low-risk men had in common is that their cholesterol levels fell in the lowest fourth of the total group’s.
The scientists decided to study cholesterol levels after finding that men who took statins — a class of cholesterol-lowering medications — ran about half the risk of advanced prostate cancer as men not on the drugs. The researchers, however, don’t suggest taking statins solely for cancer prevention.
“It did say to us that there was something about cholesterol that may be of interest for prostate cancer,” Platz said.
Eric Jacobs, senior epidemiologist with the American Cancer Society, said the results were exciting. But he agreed with Platz that more research was needed to establish a clear connection between cholesterol and prostate cancer. Even so, he said evidence is growing that diet might play an important role in prostate cancer. Numerous studies have shown that obese men are more likely to develop the advanced disease.
