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Elevated levels of total cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood of men who underwent surgery for prostate cancer, can increase the risk for disease recurrence, according to a new study. 

"While laboratory studies support an important role for cholesterol in prostate cancer, population-based evidence linking cholesterol and prostate cancer is mixed," said Emma Allott, PhD, postdoctoral associate at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina, in the press release. 

"Understanding associations between obesity, cholesterol, and prostate cancer is important given that cholesterol levels are readily modifiable with diet and/or statin use, and could therefore have important, practical implications for prostate cancer prevention and treatment."

"Our findings suggest that normalization, or even partial normalization, of serum lipid levels among men with dyslipidemia [abnormal lipid profile] may reduce the risk of prostate cancer recurrence," said Allott.

Researchers analyzed data from more than 843 men and found that those who had serum  triglyceride levels of 150 mg/dL or higher had a 35 percent increased risk for prostate cancer recurrence - compared with patients who had normal levels of triglycerides. 

"Given that 45 percent of deaths worldwide can be attributed to cardiovascular disease and cancer, with prostate cancer being the second most common cause of male cancer deaths in the United States, understanding the role of dyslipidemia as a shared, modifiable risk factor for both of these common causes of mortality is of great importance," Allott added.

The study was published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.