STATINS: Wonder drug that can prevent breast cancer may have been found

As scientists establish a link between high cholesterol and cancer, Statins, already taken by millions of people in the UK can potentially prevent breast cancer, as an on-going study suggests.

Mail Online reports that the cholesterol-reducing drugs are already taken by seven million people in the UK, with the aim of reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

But British scientists say the cheap drugs, which cost the NHS less than £2 a month to prescribe for each person, could also drastically reduce the risk of breast cancer.

A study of more than 600,000 women found that breast cancer risk was almost doubled in those with high levels of fat in their blood.

The research is still at an early stage and the findings do not yet prove that cholesterol helps trigger breast cancer.

But if future work demonstrates a causal link it raises the possibility of using statins to reduce women’s risk of the disease.

Cardiologist Rahul Potluri, from the University of Aston in Birmingham, said: ‘We found that women with high cholesterol had a significantly greater chance of developing breast cancer.

‘This was an observational study so we can’t conclude that high cholesterol causes breast cancer, but the strength of this association warrants further investigation.

‘A prospective study that monitors the risk of breast cancer in women with and without high cholesterol is needed to confirm what we observed. If the connection between high cholesterol and breast cancer is validated, the next step would be to see if lowering cholesterol with statins can reduce the risk of developing cancer.’

 

Source: Daily Mail UK