Patients with prostate cancer present lower cholesterol and higher triglycerides

This interesting paper published recently in the medical journal The Aging Male reports a study in which the investigators evaluated "lipoprotein profile and sex hormones in patients with prostate cancer (PCa) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and their possible associations with some inflammatory markers linked to PCa." Not surprisingly, estrogen and androgens were higher and adiponectin (see forthcoming posts) was lower. The authors conclude: "Our most novel findings are that the patients with PCa presented lower total Chol and HDL-chol and higher TG/HDL-chol than BPH and Controls." Once again, cholesterol was lower and triglycerides higher in the prostate cancer group. What drives up triglycerides more than anything else? Insulin resistance. One more interesting finding: "No differences were found in androgens between BPH and PCa." This suggests that androgens (including testosterone) add bulk but the other factors are more significant for conversion to malignancy.