Cholesterol drug may improve prostate cancer

Treatment with statins, a widely used class of cholesterol-lowering drugs, which include Lipitor, Crestor and Zocor, is associated with a longer rate of relapse-free survival after radiotherapy for prostate cancer, particularly among patients with more aggressive cancers, researchers reported here at the annual meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO).

Dr. Michael J. Zelefsky of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and colleagues reviewed data for 871 men with prostate adenocarcinomas treated between January 1995 and July 2000.

The investigators compared outcomes of 168 men who were on statin therapy during radiation therapy with that of 703 men not on statins but receiving similar radiation therapy. The average radiation dose was 81 Gy, with a range of 75.6-86.4 Gy, and the average follow-up was 85 months post-radiation therapy.

Zelefsky reported that the relapse-free survival rate at 5 years was 91 percent for patients on a statin and at 10 years it was 76 percent. The corresponding rates were 81 percent and 66 percent for those not on statin therapy.

“Statins may interfere with the metastatic mechanism, but that hasn’t been proven,” Zelefsky speculated to Reuters Health. Statin use appeared to have the greatest benefit in those with the most aggressive disease, he added.

“We can’t say on the basis of this trial that all patients with prostate cancer need to be on these medications,” Zelefsky said. “Randomized, controlled trials are needed.”

The researcher cautioned that this is a very preliminary study. “We don’t know which statins work best, the duration or the best timing of therapy ... or if there is a causative effect,” he stressed.

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