Reducing Bad Cholesterol Will Also Reduce Tumor Growth, Study Says

There have been several studies that discovered a connection between obesity and the development of cancer. Experts have found that cancerous tumor cells spread in the human body by feeding on low density lipoprotein (LDL) or what is commonly known as "bad cholesterol".

According to a new study, tumor cells grow after they steal very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) in the body. The results of the clinical trials reveal that decreasing the liver's production of LDL will give the tumor less supply to feed on and will most likely reduce its growth as well. These tumors don't only use lipid as their component to grow, but they can also control the host's lipid metabolism, Science Daily reported.

"Cancer cells need lipids to grow. They can make their own lipids or get more from the host because these cells grow so fast," Richard Lehner, professor of Pediatrics and investigator at the University of Alberta's Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry explained. The study also identified that one of the key factors for this process are proteins. NDTV.com also reported that the tumor affects these proteins to decrease cholesterol clearance from the blood, leaving the LDL for the cancer cells to feed off on.

The experiments in pre-clinical model by Lehner and his team was a success, confirming a decrease in tumor development after they have regulated the proteins that affect the production of VLDL and the uptake of LDL by receptors from the liver. After the pre-clinical trial, Lehner and his team will test existing medication that can help in reducing the cholesterol production on patients who are currently receiving treatment for cancer, and adding it to their current therapies.

"There are medications approved that we can test," says Lehner. "They were not developed for cancer, they were manufactured for people with hypercholesterolemia [chronic condition where patients have very high level of cholesterol in their blood], but it will be interesting for us to test them with cancer patients and see if there is improvement."