MedWire News: Men are less likely to benefit from prostate cancer surgery if they have high cholesterol levels, researchers have found.

High cholesterol levels are known to increase a person's risk of developing heart disease and other cardiovascular disorders. And previous studies have also suggested that high cholesterol levels may play a part in the development of prostate cancer, explain Dr Lionel Banez, from Duke University Medical Centre in Durham, North Carolina, USA, and colleagues.

To investigate whether high cholesterol levels may also reduce the effectiveness of prostate cancer treatment, the researchers studied 471 men with the disease who underwent prostate-removal surgery between 1998 and 2007.

All the participant's cholesterol levels were measured before they underwent surgery.

The team found that, after surgery, men with the highest cholesterol levels were 2.5 times more likely to experience a rise in their blood levels of prostate-specific antigen, called biochemical recurrence - an indicator of prostate cancer growth - than those with the lowest cholesterol levels.

This association remained true after accounting for factors such as age, ethnicity, body mass index, pre-surgery prostate-specific antigen levels and prostate cancer grade.

Dr Banez and team conclude: "Our findings suggest that among men with prostate cancer undergoing radical prostatectomy... [high cholesterol] is independently associated with increased risk for biochemical recurrence.

"These findings suggest that hypercholesterolemia may promote prostate cancer progression."

The research will be presented at the forthcoming Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association in Orlando, Florida, USA.