Cholesterol-busting "wonder" drugs 'could protect men against prostate cancer'

Cholesterol-busting "wonder" drugs 'could protect men against prostate cancer'

Cholesterol-busting "wonder" drugs could protect men against prostate cancer, a new study suggests.

by Kate Devlin, Medical Correspondent
Last Updated: 1:22AM BST 28 Apr 2009

The research, which followed a group of middle-aged men for 15 years, found that they were less likely to develop the disease, which can be deadly, if they were taking statins.

The drugs, designed to reduce the chance of suffering a heart attack or stroke, are now taken by around one in three over 45 year olds.

The study followed 2,447 men between the ages of 40 and 79.

Researchers found that men who were not taking the statins were three times more likely to develop the cancer.

Men taking the drugs were also less likely to suffer benign prostate enlargement or erectile dysfunction, according to the findings, presented at the American Urological Association (AUA) meeting in Chicago.

Rodney Breau, from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, who carried out the research, said that the findings were preliminary and that further research was needed to prove that statins did actually prevent cancer.

Previous laboratory tests have suggested that the drugs could halt the spread of the disease by preventing cancer cells from dividing.

Recently released figures show there are now more than 7 million people in England taking statins to lower their cholesterol and reduce their risk of suffering a heart attack.

The NHS now spends more than £450 million a year on the medication.

The drugs are prescribed to people who have already had a heart attack, to cut their chances of suffering a second attack, and to patients estimated to be at a higher than one in five risk of suffering an attack within the next 10 years.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/5233199/Cholesterol-busting-wonder-drugs-could-protect-men-against-prostate-cancer.html