Healthy Cholesterol May Lower Cancer Risk

HDL ‘Good’ Cholesterol Associated With Reduced Risk for Cancer

Maintaining a healthy cholesterol level may help protect you against cancer, according to a new study.

Researchers at the Molecular Cardiology Research Institute at Tufts Medical Center in Boston conducted an analysis of 24 trials that investigated the pros and cons of cholesterol treatment interventions, primarily statin therapy. The research team looked at high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, the “good” cholesterol that is protective against sl(this,”,’embd-lnk’);” href=”http://men.webmd.com/weight-loss-bmi”>body mass index, smoking status, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), the “bad” cholesterol that clogs arteries and contributes to blood and their risk of getting cancer. This supports another potentially important role for HDL in the body,” says study researcher Richard Karas, MD, PhD, executive director at the Molecular Cardiology Research Institute.

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HDL is responsible for transporting cholesterol to the liver and keeping cholesterol moving throughout the body. Higher HDL is associated with a twofold to threefold reduced risk for heart disease. The biological mechanisms in which HDL might also protect from cancer is unclear, the researchers say. Some theories are:

• HDL may have antioxidant properties that protect against cell damage. Cell damage increases the risk of abnormal cell growth or cancer development.
• HDL may affect the immune system and help the body better defend itself against cancer.
• HDL may have anti-inflammatory properties that quell cancer cell growth and help maintain a biological environment in which cancer cells cannot thrive.

Further research is needed to tease out these biological behaviors, says Karas. In the meantime, patients can still benefit from getting their cholesterol levels regularly checked and learning the values of both their LDL and HDL numbers. “Patients need to be informed and understand what each cholesterol number means for their overall health and risk of disease,” he says.

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In an accompanying editorial, Jennifer Robinson, MD, MPH, a professor of epidemiology and medicine at the University of Iowa College of Public Health in Iowa City, writes that low HDL levels could help clinicians identify who is at risk.

“This study suggests that HDL might be an important marker for all lifestyle risk factors we know contribute to both heart disease and cancers — smoking, Robinson also notes it is unclear whether high HDL may be protective or if low HDL may indicate risk of disease. “Low HDL levels may simply be a reflection of chronic conditions that increase inflammation and atherosclerosis and carcinogenesis,” she writes.

Separately, the researchers conducted a secondary analysis of the same data to look at the impact of other cancer risk factors — age and body mass index (BMI), a measurement of weight influence cancer risk.