Higher Levels of Cholesterol and Triglycerides May Increase the Risk of Prostate Cancer Recurrence
Prostate cancer survivors with higher levels of total cholesterol and triglycerides had an increased risk for disease recurrence, according to a study by Allott et al. The study findings, coupled with evidence that statin use is associated with reduced recurrence risk, suggest that lipid levels should be explored as a modifiable risk factor for prostate cancer recurrence. The study is published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
Study Methodology
The researchers conducted a retrospective cohort analysis of 843 radical prostatectomy patients who never used statins before surgery. The study subjects were identified from the Shared Equal Access Regional Cancer Hospital (SEARCH) database and treated at one of the six Veterans Affairs Medical Center in California, North Carolina, and Georgia.
Multivariable Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to investigate the association between cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density liproprotein (HDL), and triglycerides and biochemical recurrence risk. In a secondary analysis, the researchers investigated these associations in patients with dyslipidemia, or abnormal lipid profile.
Study Findings
Of the 843 men studied, 343 were African American, 325 had abnormal cholesterol levels, 263 had abnormal triglyceride levels, and 293 had a biochemical recurrence, defined as rising PSA levels after prostate cancer treatment, indicating the recurrence of the patient’s prostate cancer.
The researchers found that those study participants who had serum triglyceride levels of 150 mg/dL or higher had a 35% increased risk of prostate cancer recurrence, compared with patients who had normal levels of triglycerides. Among those with an abnormal blood lipid profile, for every 10-mg/dL increase in total serum cholesterol above 200 mg/dL, there was a 9% increased risk of prostate cancer recurrence. For every 10-mg/dL increase in HDL among men with abnormal HDL (below the desirable value of 40 mg/dL), the risk of disease recurrence was reduced by 39%.
“Given that 45% 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,” Emma Allott, PhD, a Postdoctoral Associate at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina, said in a statement.
Stephen J. Freedland, MD, of Duke University School of Medicine, is the corresponding author for the Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention article.
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health. The study authors reported no conflicts of interest.
The content in this post has not been reviewed by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Inc. (ASCO®) and does not necessarily reflect the ideas and opinions of ASCO®.
