A new study published in the British Journal of Cancer suggests that statins, the drugs prescribed to fight cholesterol, may prevent certain cancer cells from migrating to the bones in patients with prostate cancer. According to the researchers, the drug interferes with the ability of cancer cells to change shape and to infiltrate the bones. This discovery could pave the way for new cancer treatments. This also explains why, in patients on statins, the occupation of the cancerous tumor often takes place more slowly.
The passage of cancer cells from the prostate to the bones is a common case that doctors dread. Because, when that happens, the chances of recovery diminish. Hence the interest of this discovery: “Understanding how statins manage to block the means by which prostate cancer cells are able to change shape in order to spread, could lead to major advances in the treatment of men who suffer from an aggressive form of the disease “explains Neil Barrie, director of scientific information at the Cancer Research Center of Great Britain.
“We still have to understand the mechanism by which statins work on cancer cells,” adds Professor Noël Clarke, from the University of Manchester, who led this study.
Each year, there are 71,000 new cases of prostate cancer, and the disease is the cause of nearly 8,870 deaths. This cancer concerns a total of 300,000 men in France.
