According to the National Cancer Institute, a Columbia University study published on January 20th in the online journal Cell reported that statins, which lower cholesterol, "seem to keep breast cancer at bay in some patients."
The findings also point to the possibility that mutations in a specific gene could identify tumors that would be most likely to benefit from statin therapy.
NCI went on to report that Carol Prives, one of the authors of the study, said that a clinical trial based on the mutation status of the tumor suppressor p53 might be called for. The study's lead author, William Freed-Pastor, found that when mutant p53 cells were treated with statins, they stopped growing uncontrollably and in some cases they died.
Although the findings are encouraging, NCI reports that Prives said, "There are great implications, but nothing clinical yet."
