For the first time high cholesterol levels have been linked to prostate cancer as dicovered in a new study.

The strongest risk factors for prostate cancer remain to be; age, ethnic background and family history.  But scientists had some evidence for links between cholesterol and prostate cancer for quite a while as reported in the Journal of Cellular Biochemistry.

To explore the possible link between cholesterol and prostate health, epidemiologist Francesca Bravi and colleagues reviewed the medical files of nearly 3000 men under the age of 75 from four different regions of Italy.  This included 1294 men who had prostate cancer and 1451 men without the disease.

After adjusting for other factors such as family history of prostate cancer and smoking, the team found that those with prostate cancer were 50% more likely to have high cholesterol than their control counterparts.  It is likely that the high cholesterol may contribute to the development of prostate cancer but that causative link was not firmly established by this study.

Bravi noted that the body uses cholesterol to make hormones known as androgens, which influence prostate tissue.  A surplus of cholesterol may lead to unbalanced production of the hormone, she says.