New Study Shows Diet Impacts Statins’ Effect on Ovarian Cancer
Statins and cancer cells
For some time, laboratory studies have suggested that statins can potentially treat cancer cells.
Statins were originally developed to fight high cholesterol and help prevent heart disease. It turns out that almost 65 percent of ovarian cancers have high levels of an enzyme that helps make cholesterol. This enzyme, known as hydroxymethylglutarate coenzyme-A reductase (HMGCR for short), contributes to the uncontrolled growth of ovarian cancer cells. Because statin drugs work by blocking this enzyme and thus decreasing levels of cholesterol produced, scientists presumed that they could repurpose this cholesterol-lowering drug to fight ovarian cancer.
