Latest Mainstream Hype... Statins 'Lower Risk of Prostate Cancer'

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It annoys me so much when the mainstream jumps on a story without knowing the full facts!

Take the latest news report on the 'wonders of statin drugs'! Now, apparently, cholesterol-lowering statins can help lower the risk of prostate cancer and cut cancer death rates...

Fair enough, prostate cancer is a disease almost every man over the age of 50 fears. However, I have one question to ask: Does the answer to effective prevention of prostate cancer really lie in giving side-effect ridden drugs, like statins, to patients? Or is it just another ploy by Big Pharma to expand the market for their best-selling little devil.

Taken with a pinch of salt

Before I begin to explain the results of the current study, it's important to note that this latest data is from retrospective research. In other words, patients were asked to remember what drugs they took... so it makes the findings much less accurate than a prospective study, where patients are monitored whilst they take part in the study.

The two US studies in question, suggest that high cholesterol could be a key factor in the development of prostate cancer and that taking a daily dose of cholesterol- lowering statins can have a powerful preventive effect... We had to see this one coming, didn't we?

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In the first study, researchers at the US National Cancer Institute found that men with high cholesterol levels were 22 per cent more likely to suffer a prostate tumour and 85 per cent more at risk of developing a serious, fast-growing form of the disease, compared to those with low or normal cholesterol readings. The researchers told the Cancer Causes and Control journal that statins may reduce the risk of advanced prostate cancer by lowering cholesterol.

In the second study, researchers looked at tissue samples from more than 4,000 men who had biopsies because doctors suspected they had prostate cancer... Those taking statin drugs for high cholesterol were nearly 10 per cent less likely to be diagnosed with a tumour and 24 per cent less likely to have an aggressive cancer, compared to men who did not take the drug... The researchers told the Journal of Urology, that their findings also suggest that statins may be able to reduce enlargement of the prostate.

However, these findings are contradicted by two other recent studies, which show incriminating evidence regarding the relationship between low cholesterol levels and cancer. One study, known as the 'SEAS' study, showed how two cholesterol-lowering drugs (simvastatin and ezetimibe) taken in combination, increased the risk of cancer.

The second study, involving 6,000 participants, assessed the relationship between (supposedly 'unhealthy') LDL- cholesterol and risk of cancer. At the end of a 5 year period, the researchers concluded that those individuals with too low cholesterol levels (LDL level of 3.8 mmol/L or 147 mg/dL), were found to be at a 74 per cent increased risk of cancer.

This is probably why Emma Malcolm, Chief Executive of the charity Prostate Action, said that the findings of the two prostate cancer studies should be taken 'with a pinch of salt'... British experts called for more research to be done... and Dr Kate Holmes, of the Prostate Cancer Charity, explained that practical advice cannot yet be given to men in light of the latest prostate cancer high cholesterol link.

If you ask me, Big Pharma will somehow find a way to get the 'right' research results, which allow them to crack the prostate cancer market with statin drugs... Knowing these guys, they won't give up easily! However, it is refreshing to see that some in the mainstream don't buy into the statin-cure-for-all craze. Thank goodness!

Now, if we can only get them to realise that cholesterol is not the villain they've made it out to be... If it does turn out that there is a link between high cholesterol and prostate cancer, instead of dishing out statin drugs, perhaps it would be more effective (not to mention a whole lot safer) to achieve healthy cholesterol levels naturally through diet and exercise.

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Sources:

Schatzkin A, et al. Serum cholesterol and cancer in the NHANES I epidemiologic follow up study. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Lancet 1987;2:298-301

Ulmer H, et al. Why Eve is not Adam: prospective follow-up in 149650 women and men of cholesterol and other risk factors related to cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. J Women's Health 2004;13(1):41-53

Statins 'lower risk of prostate cancer' and could cut rate of deaths for just 40p a day, published online 30.09.11, dailymail.co.uk