High cholesterol levels accelerate growth of prost...( olesterol reversed this inhibitory effe...)

"Our study opens up a new paradigm in thinking about how cancer might be controlled pharmacologically by manipulating cholesterol," says Freeman. "Our data support the notion that cholesterol-lowering drugs -- which are widely used and fairly safe -- might be effective in prevention of prostate cancer, or as an adjunctive therapy."

Although there is some epidemiologic evidence linking high cholesterol levels with certain types of cancer, there has been little research at the cellular level to try to explain why this is so. More recently, epidemiologic studies have begun reporting that people taking cholesterol-lowering drugs have a significantly reduced incidence of prostate and other cancers.

Lipid rafts are structures in the outer cell membrane which Keith Solomon, PhD, a co-investigator on the study and a lipid-raft expert, likens to ice floating on water -- they are dynamic and continually aggregate and disaggregate. They have naturally high concentrations of cholesterol and are believed to be important in cell signaling. Solomon and Freeman believe that cholesterol in the lipid rafts may help sequester proteins involved in cancer pathways in close proximity with each other, facilitating biochemical reactions that promote cancer growth.

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Contact: Mary-Ellen Shay
mary.shay@childrens.harvard.edu
617-355-6420
Children's Hospital Boston
17-Mar-2005