High cholesterol increases a person’s risk
of cancer. However, being treated for
high cholesterol may be associated with
lower risk of death from four common
cancers—lung, breast, prostate and bowel.
British researchers reported their findings
to an international conference in Florence,
Italy. Their fourteen year study of nearly
one million patients offers confirmation of
laboratory studies showing treating high
cholesterol with statins may reduce risk of
cancer. Clearly, having a diagnosis of high
cholesterol improves survival in cancer and
the researchers say based on previous
research, there is a strong possibility that
statins are producing this effect. Lead
author Dr. Paul Carter says the finding
that high cholesterol can cause cancer is
exciting, and if cholesterol-lowering
medications, like statins, can reduce the
risk the findings are even more so.