Cholesterol-lowering statins could slow down prostate cancer progression in men undergoing androgen deprivation therapy.
The gene SLCO2B1 can transport a number of drugs and hormones, including statins, into cells, the JAMA Network Journals reported. Researchers wondered if statins could interfere with the ability of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), which is a precursor of testosterone that is also transported by dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, to get into cells and delay androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) resistance through this mechanism.
To make their findings, a research team conducted in vitro studies on prostate cancer cell lines to look at the relationship between statins and DHEAS uptake in 926 patients who had ADT for prostate cancer. The findings revealed statins block DHEAS uptake by binding to SLCO2B1.
Out of the sample of patients, 31 percent were taking statins when they started ADT treatments. These patients were followed for a period of about six years, and over this follow-up period 70 percent experience disease progression while on ADT. The overall median time to progression was observed to be 20.3 months, but men who were taking both statins and undergoing ADT had a significantly median time to progression when compared with those not taking the cholesterol drugs.
"Our in vitro finding that statins competitively reduce DHEAS uptake, thus effectively decreasing the available intratumoral androgen pool, affords a plausible mechanism to support the clinical observation of prolonged TTP [time to progression] in statin users," the article concluded.
In a related editorial, Jorge D. Ramos, and Evan Y. Yu, of University of Washington School of Medicine pointed out the need for further studies on the subject.
"[The researchers] have made a compelling argument for a biologic mechanism of action of statins in advanced prostate cancer through competitive inhibition of the uptake of DHEAS via SLCO2B1-encoded transporters. However, randomized, prospective validation of the clinical benefits of statin use in advanced prostate cancer is necessary," they wrote.
The findings were published in a recent edition of the journal JAMA Oncology.
