A recent study has shown that the levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA), a marker of prostate cancer, lower in men who take statin drugs. This may lower the risk of advanced prostate cancer in men, reports the study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, but it is not clear how statins may be able to fight cancer. High levels of PSA are associated with prostate cancer and other benign conditions of the prostate. Generally men who have high levels of this antigen are recommended to have a biopsy of the prostate. In the present study, the researchers tried to trace the changes in the levels of PSA with statins in about 1,214 men who took the drug. Researcher Robert J. Hamilton, MD, MPH, reported that after starting the use of statin, the level of PSA reduced by 1.4% and this reduction in the level of antigen was proportional to the reduction in the levels of cholesterol with statins.
Although the average reduction of PSA was less, men who started with high levels of PSA, about 2.5 ng/mL or more, along with a high decrease in the reduction of cholesterol had a greater decrease in the levels of PSA (17.4%).
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