Washington, Sept 19 (ANI): Researchers from Duke University have revealed that cholesterol plays a crucial role in the development of prostate cancer.

They suggest that men can decrease their risk of developing prostate cancer by managing their cholesterol levels.

In 2007, a retrospective study on 1,214 men, by the Durham Veteran Affairs Medical Centre in North Carolina showed that men, who are taking statins to lower their cholesterol, also experienced a proportional decline in their levels of prostate-specific antigen, or PSA.

As the prostate grows, it secretes an increased amount of PSA into the bloodstream.

The new study highlights the fact that cholesterol levels could be associated in some way with prostate cancer development and progression.

Poor cholesterol management may not only affect a mans risk for prostate cancer, but also his risk of biomedical recurrence after prostatectomy, according to new data from Duke University released earlier this year.

The research team identified 471 patients from the Shared Equal Access Regional Cancer Hospital (SEARCH) database who underwent radical prostatectomy between 1998 and 2007.

They found that those with a high level of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and those with increased serum cholesterol were up to 2.5 times more likely to experience a biochemical relapse.

While the association between high cholesterol and prostate health has been established by these data, the actual causation, researchers point out, is still unknown. (ANI)