Cholesterol Drugs May Cut Risk of Prostate Cancer

Jacksonville – New studies are giving hope to those at risk of prostate cancer. United States researchers recently announced that cholesterol-lowering statin drugs may offer protection to men against prostate cancer and other urological problems, in addition to reducing their chance of heart attacks and heart problems.

The study involved 2,447 men between the ages of 40 and 79 and lasted over fiften years. The study found that the men that took statin drugs were significantly less likely to develop prostate cancer when compared to the men who did not take the cholesterol-lowering drug.

6% of the men on the statins were later diagnosed with prostate cancer. In comparison, almost 18% of the men that did not take statins developed prostate cancer, according to the researchers from the Mayo Clinic.

The fifteen year study reveiled that the men that took statins were also much less likely to develop benign prostate enlargement and erectile dysfunction.

It’s believed that the drug’s anti-inflammatory properties are the cause of the lower cancer rates. It may also be the lowered cholesterol that leads to the 30% reduction in prostate cancer.

Scientists are eager to start more studies to determine the exact cause for the cancer rate reduction, as well as to determine the optimal dosage and the length of time men need to take statins to see a benefit. Researchers also want to find out if statin therapy after surgery could have the same effect.

Another study also recently completed showed that men taking statins had a 72% reduction in the risk for inflammation of their prostate tumors.

This information supports long-held beliefs that statin drugs reduced the chances of developing cancer. It makes the drug an important means of battling two of the world’s most deadly problems: prostate cancer and heart attacks. While researchers can’t yet say for sure that patients should begin statin therapy to reduce their risk of prostate cancer, they are hopeful more research will prove and substantiate these ideas. Statin drugs may end up being key to treatment and risk reduction for the deadly disease that claims thousands each year.