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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2009 Nov;18(11):2807-13.
doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-09-0472. Epub 2009 Nov 3.

Men with low serum cholesterol have a lower risk of high-grade prostate cancer in the placebo arm of the prostate cancer prevention trial

Elizabeth A Platz  1 , Cathee Till, Phyllis J Goodman, Howard L Parnes, William D Figg, Demetrius Albanes, Marian L Neuhouser, Eric A Klein, Ian M Thompson Jr, Alan R Kristal
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Men with low serum cholesterol have a lower risk of high-grade prostate cancer in the placebo arm of the prostate cancer prevention trial

Elizabeth A Platz et al. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2009 Nov.

Abstract

Background: Several prospective studies suggest that use of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs is inversely associated with advanced stage and possibly high-grade prostate cancer. One study reported that men with low cholesterol had a lower risk of high-grade prostate cancer. Given these findings, we investigated the association between low serum cholesterol and prostate cancer risk in the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial.

Methods: We conducted a cohort study of 5,586 men ages >or=55 years who were randomized to the placebo arm of the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial between 1993 and 1996. Serum cholesterol was measured enzymatically at entry. By the end of follow-up, 1,251 prostate cancer cases were confirmed. We used logistic regression to calculate the multivariable odds ratio (OR) of total, and Gleason 2 to 6 (n = 993), 7 (n = 199), and 8 to 10 (n = 59) prostate cancer comparing low serum (normal, <200 mg/dL) to high-serum (borderline and elevated cholesterol, >or=200 mg/dL) cholesterol.

Results: Men with low cholesterol had a lower risk of Gleason 8 to 10 prostate cancer [OR, 0.41; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.22-0.77] than men with high cholesterol. No association was present for prostate cancer overall (OR, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.85-1.11), Gleason 2 to 6 disease (OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.89-1.18), or Gleason 7 disease (OR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.69-1.24).

Conclusion: These prospective results support that men with low cholesterol have a reduced risk of high-grade prostate cancer. These and other contemporary data that suggest that cholesterol metabolism should be investigated further in the etiology of prostate cancer.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Association between serum cholesterol concentration and Gleason 8-10 prostate cancer, placebo arm of the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial. The association was estimated using restricted cubic splines with 3 knots (location shown by arrows), truncating at the 2.5 percentile and 97.5 percentile, and adjusting for age, race, family history, BMI, diabetes, regular aspirin use, and history of heart attack. The p-value for the test of association was 0.015.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

  • Cholesterol and cancer: answers and new questions.
    Jacobs EJ, Gapstur SM. Jacobs EJ, et al. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2009 Nov;18(11):2805-6. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-09-1027. Epub 2009 Nov 3. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2009. PMID: 19887583 No abstract available.

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