London, Oct 28 (IANS) Millions of people worldwide use statins, a class of drugs used to lower blood cholesterol, but new research shows they may also be effective against cancer.
Statins lower cholesterol by blocking certain enzymes involved in our metabolism. However, they have also been shown to affect other important lipids in the body, those that help proteins to attach to the cell membrane.

Because many of the proteins that are lipid-modified cause cancer, there are now hopes that it will be possible to use statins in the treatment of cancer. It is, however, very difficult to study the side-effects of statins in mammals.

Accordingly, Marc Pilon, cell and molecular biology researcher at the University of Gothenburg, (Sweden) teamed up with colleagues to carry out studies on the nematode C. elegans.

This nematode, which is made up of just a thousand or so cells, does not produce cholesterol and is therefore an ideal test subject.

“Our results support the idea that statins can be used in more ways than just one to lower cholesterol,” said Pilon.

“Not least that they can prevent the growth of cancer cells caused by lipid-modified proteins, but also that they can be effective in the treatment of diabetes and neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s,” Pilon said.

These findings were published in PNAS.