What’s good for the heart is good for the prostate
Cholesterol-lowering drug slows the growth of prostate tumors in mice
It’s the medical equivalent of a buy one, get one free offer — for men at least. Take cholesterol-lowering drugs for your heart, and slow the growth of prostate tumors, too. Lower cholesterol levels limit the growth of blood vessels inside prostate tumors, scientists report.
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In a new study, researchers implanted mice with human prostate cancer tumors and fed the mice either a high-cholesterol or a no-cholesterol diet. Half the mice on each diet received the cholesterol-lowering drug Zetia.
Two weeks after implantation, the prostate tumors were largest in mice on the high-cholesterol diet without Zetia and smallest in mice on the no-cholesterol diet with the drug, Keith Solomon of Children’s Hospital Boston at Harvard Medical School and colleagues report in the March issue of The American Journal of Pathology. And as expected, when cholesterol levels were measured, the mice on high-cholesterol diets not receiving the drug had the highest levels, while those on no-cholesterol diets with the drug had the lowest.