New research suggests that a reduction in blood cholesterol might actually prove harmful in kidney cancer patients.
Increasing evidence suggests that alterations in cholesterol and other lipids are associated with the development, progression, and prognosis of various cancers. To assess the situation as it relates to kidney cancer, Tobias Klatte, MD, of the Medical University of Vienna in Austria, and his colleagues analyzed total blood cholesterol levels in 867 patients with renal cell carcinoma before they underwent kidney surgery. The investigators then followed the patients for a median of 52 months
Low blood cholesterol before treatment was associated with more advanced tumor stages and cancer spread during follow-up. Also, patients with high cholesterol had a 43 percent lower risk of dying from their cancer compared with patients with low cholesterol. Finally, including patients’ cholesterol levels with traditional risk factors increased the accuracy of prognoses.
Read the press release here: http://bit.ly/1v5pnPt
Source: Wiley
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