According to a study, men with lower cholesterol levels are less likely than those with higher levels to develop high-grade prostate cancer.

The researchers analyzed data from 5,586 men aged 55 and older enrolled in the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial from 1993 to 1996. Some 1,251 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer during the study period.

Normal cholesterol level range is defined as less than 200 mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter of blood) of total cholesterol. Men with cholesterol levels lower than 200 mg/dL had a 59 percent lower risk of developing high-grade prostate cancers, which tend to grow and spread rapidly. High-grade cancers are identified by a pathological ranking called the Gleason score. Scores at the highest end of the scale, between eight and 10, indicate cancers considered the most worrisome to pathologists who examine samples of the diseased prostate under the microscope.

"Now, we have more evidence that among the benefits of low cholesterol may be a lower risk for potentially deadly prostate cancers" says Elizabeth Platz, study author.

According to the researchers, cholesterol levels had no significant effect on the entire spectrum of prostate cancer incidence, only those that were high-grade.

Platz cautions that, while the group took into account factors that could bias the results, such as smoking history, weight, family history of prostate cancer, and dietary cholesterol, other things could have affected their results. One example is whether men in the study were taking cholesterol lowering drugs at the time of the blood collections, a data point the researchers expect to analyze soon.

"Cholesterol may affect cancer cells at a level where it influences key signaling pathways controlling cell survival," says Platz. "Cancer cells use these survival pathways to evade the normal cycle of cell life and death."

She says that targeting cholesterol metabolism may be one route to treating and preventing the disease, but this remains to be tested.

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References:
1. Elizabeth Platz, et al. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

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