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The anti-cholesterol drugs statins could stop prostate cancer spreading to the bones, a study claims.Researchers say the drugs interfere with the ability of tumour cells to change shape and squeeze into bones.
The findings could lead to new treatments that will benefit thousands of patients with advanced stages of the disease who see it spread.
The research may help to explain why anti-cholesterol drugs have been thought to slow the progress of the disease in some cases.
Nell Barrie, senior science information manager at Cancer Research UK, said: ‘Prostate cancer spreading to the bones is a major challenge for doctors and unfortunately it’s very difficult to treat.
‘Altering cholesterol metabolism or blocking the ways in which prostate cancer cells are able to change their shape, and thereby their ability to spread, could lead to major advances in treating men with aggressive forms of the disease.’
The study also highlighted the key role of an animal fat compound in attracting prostate cancer to the bones.
Arachidonic acid (AA) – a type of omega-6 fatty acid found in meat and fish – is concentrated in the bone marrow and known to promote the spread of prostate cancer.
Scientists discovered that cancer cells exposed to AA became rounder in shape and sprouted projections which helped them squeeze through gaps in surrounding tissue.
But treating the cells with statins prevented the changes, says a report in the British Journal of Cancer.
Action: Researchers say the drugs interfere with the ability of cells to change shape and squeeze into bones. The findings could lead to new treatments that will benefit thousands of patients. Above, prostate cancer cells
The drugs targeted a biochemical pathway linked to both the fatty acid’s effect on the cells and high cholesterol.
Study leader Professor Noel Clarke, from the University of Manchester, said: ‘Understanding this process will provide vital clues as to how drugs like statins might benefit certain groups of prostate cancer patients who are more at risk of their cancer spreading.’
Dr Iain Frame, director of research at Prostate Cancer UK, said: ‘Looking for improved ways to treat prostate cancer cells after they leave the gland is one of the key challenges we face in tackling advanced disease.
Deadly: Around 41,700 men in the UK are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year and nearly 11,000 die from the disease (file picture)
'Men at that stage of prostate cancer have far too few treatment options, and frankly deserve better.
‘It’s too early to tell conclusive results about the links between cholesterol and advanced prostate cancer from this study but it’s only through research like this that better treatments will be developed. We will watch the next stages of the research with great interest.’
Around 41,700 men in the UK are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year and nearly 11,000 die from the disease.
Slow-growing prostate cancers are known as ‘pussycats’. In some cases, particularly when a patient is older when diagnosed, he can live to the end of his normal lifespan without the ‘pussycat’ cancer becoming a threat.
But there are more aggressive and dangerous ‘tiger’ cancers, which may spread quickly if they are not surgically removed or destroyed.
Up to 15 per cent of prostate cancer patients suffer metastasis, in which the disease spreads to other parts of the body – most commonly the bones or lymph nodes.
Statins have previously been linked to protection against a number of health problems other than high cholesterol, including eye disorders and Alzheimer’s.
Is is thought this is because they maintain a healthy supply of blood to the brain.
As many as seven million people in the UK are on statins, at an estimated annual cost of £450million.
They work by blocking an enzyme involved in the production of the ‘bad’ cholesterol that raises the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Under new NHS guidelines, at least 10million patients will be eligible for anti-cholesterol drugs, securing Britain’s place as the statins capital of Europe.
Doctors used to prescribe the drugs only to those who had a 30 per cent or greater risk of suffering a heart attack within a decade.
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