In a new study, researchers found common cholesterol-lowering drugs statins may help stop the spread of cancer.
Cancer patients rarely die from the primary tumor, but rather from the metastases—even after successful tumor surgery.
This is because cancer cells sometimes spread to other parts of the body early in the disease when the tumor is still very small and may not have even been discovered yet.
Understanding the molecular mechanisms of metastasis is therefore a key piece of the puzzle in the fight against cancer.
In previous research, scientists found an important driver of this process in human colorectal cancer: the metastasis-associated in colon cancer 1 (MACC1) gene.
When cancer cells express MACC1, their ability to proliferate, move around the body, and invade other tissues is enhanced.
MACC1’s role as a key factor and biomarker of tumor growth and metastasis—not only in colorectal cancer, but in more than 20 solid tumors such as gastric, liver and breast cancer—has since been studied by many other researchers worldwide and confirmed in more than 300 publications.
In this study, the team discovered what could disrupt metastatic progression in such cases: Statins, which are prescribed as cholesterol-lowering drugs, inhibit MACC1 expression in tumor cells.
They tested this discovery on various tumor cell lines, with favorable results: All seven drugs tested reduced MACC1 expression in the cells, but to varying degrees.
The scientists then administered the cholesterol inhibitors to genetically modified mice with increased MACC1 expression. This almost completely suppressed the formation of tumors and metastases in the animals.
The team also examined data from a total of 300,000 patients who had been prescribed statins. They found patients taking statins had only half the incidence of cancer compared to the general population.
They advise against taking statins as a preventive measure without consulting a doctor and having their lipid levels checked, so as to ensure no serious side effects occur.
If you care about cancer risk, please read studies about vitamin that is critical to cancer prevention, and findings of stuff on your teeth that may cause tongue cancer.
For more information about cancer prevention, please see recent studies about omega-3 nutrient in fish that can be a poison for cancer, and results showing that scientists find a new method to treat cancer effectively.
The study is published in Clinical and Translational Medicine and was conducted by Professor Ulrike Stein et al.
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