Cholesterol reducing Statins may prevent breast cancer spreading, say docs

RESEARCHERS have made a “crucial discovery” that suggests statins may be able to help stop breast cancer coming back.

The majority of women with the most common type of breast cancer respond to hormonal therapy but around 12,000 women a year see their cancer return.

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Now researchers at the Institute of Cancer Research have found that cancer cells in these patients can use cholesterol to keep growing and spreading the disease.

If a therapy such as statins could lower the ability of these cells to use cholesterol, it could prove a powerful weapon in preventing cancer coming back.

Around 70% of breast cancers rely on the female hormone oestrogen to grow and are known as oestrogen-receptor positive, or ER-positive.

Traditional hormonal therapies either lower levels of oestrogen in the body, or block oestrogen from reaching the cancer cells.

This means the cancer either grows more slowly or stops growing altogether.

But in some cases, these hormonal therapies do not work.

The new study, published in the journal Breast Cancer Research, found that in some cases, the cancer cells had managed to produce a molecule made from cholesterol, called 25-HC.

This can mimic oestrogen and encourage cancer cells to continue growing.

When the experts blocked the pathway allowing cholesterol production, the growth of cancer cells slowed down by 30% to 50%.

Statins are usually used to lower levels of “bad cholesterol” in the body, which can lead to heart attacks and strokes.

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Dr Lesley-Ann Martin, from the ICR, in London, said: “During the course of treatment, ER-positive breast cancers, which are ‘fed’ by oestrogen, often become resistant to standard hormone therapy.

“Our research has demonstrated that these cancer cells can use a cholesterol molecule to mimic oestrogen so that they continue to grow without it.

“This is hugely significant.

“Testing the patient’s tumour for 25-HC or the enzymes that make it may allow us to predict which patients are likely to develop resistance hormone therapy and tailor their treatment accordingly.

“Our study also demonstrates that statins could be a valuable addition to breast cancer treatment, and that this warrants investigation in clinical trials.”

Baroness Delyth Morgan, from Breast Cancer Now, said: “This is a really crucial discovery.

“Far too many women have to deal with the potentially devastating consequences of their breast cancer coming back and this research presents an important opportunity to improve the effectiveness of today’s most commonly used treatments.

“This study breaks new ground in uncovering how some breast cancers continue to survive without oestrogen and suggests that women could benefit from adding statins to standard anti-hormone treatments.

“But this is early research and greater clinical evidence is now needed to understand the potential risks and benefits of this approach.”