Increased Cholesterol And Triglycerides May Increase The Risk Of Prostate Cancer Recurrence

Recent findings published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention have shown that elevated levels of cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood of those who underwent surgery for prostate cancer can increase the risk of disease recurrence.

"While laboratory studies support an important role for cholesterol in prostate cancer, population-based evidence linking cholesterol and prostate cancer is mixed," said Emma Allott, PhD, postdoctoral associate at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina, in a news release. "Understanding associations between obesity, cholesterol, and prostate cancer is important given that cholesterol levels are readily modifiable with diet and/or statin use, and could therefore have important, practical implications for prostate cancer prevention and treatment."

"Our findings suggest that normalization, or even partial normalization, of serum lipid levels among men with dyslipidemia [abnormal lipid profile] may reduce the risk of prostate cancer recurrence," Allott added.

For the study, researchers analyzed data on more than 843 men. They discovered that those who had serum triglyceride levels of 150 mg/dL or higher were at a 35 percent increased risk of prostate cancer recurrence when compared to patients with normal levels of triglycerides.

"Given that 45 percent of deaths worldwide can be attributed to cardiovascular disease and cancer, with prostate cancer being the second most common cause of male cancer deaths in the United States, understanding the role of dyslipidemia as a shared, modifiable risk factor for both of these common causes of mortality is of great importance," Allott concluded.