LOW CHOLESTEROL LEVEL MAY SPELL TROUBLE FOR KIDNEY CANCER PATIENTS
Low
cholesterol levels may increase kidney cancer patients’ risk of death, a new
study suggests.
The
findings indicate that cholesterol testing may help guide treatment for kidney
cancer patients, the study authors said.
They
analyzed cholesterol levels in 867 kidney cancer patients before they had
surgery for their cancer and followed them for a median of 52 months after
surgery. Low cholesterol levels before surgery were associated with more
advanced cancer and greater cancer spread after surgery.
The
investigators also found that patients with high cholesterol levels were 43
percent less likely to die after surgery than those with low cholesterol
levels, and that assessing cholesterol levels improved the accuracy of
patients’ prognoses.
While
the study found an association between low cholesterol levels and a raised
death risk among kidney cancer patients, it did not prove a conclusive link
between the two.
It’s
not clear how cholesterol levels may affect kidney cancer patients’ chances of
survival, but certain components of cholesterol may influence tumor growth and
spread, according to the authors of the study published June 12 in the journal BJU
International.
“As
this was a hypothesis-generating study, our findings should be confirmed in
[future research]. If confirmed, patients with low cholesterol may be
considered high-risk and may be treated or followed up more aggressively,” Dr.
Tobias Klatte, of the Medical University of Vienna in Austria, said in a
journal news release.
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