Combining statins with radiotherapy may prevent recurrence of prostate cancer
Doctors often recommend that older male patients buy Flomax to treat any enlargement in the gland.
Doctors often recommend that older male patients buy Flomax to treat any enlargement in the gland. For those who have aggressive prostate cancer, radiation therapy is usually the treatment of choice. A paper that appears in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics has found that these individuals may prevent disease recurrence by combining cholesterol-lowering statin drugs with radiotherapy.
Researchers from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York conducted a study among 1,681 men with prostate cancer. Of these, about 23 percent took statin medications during radiation treatment.
The authors found that only 11 percent of men who took statins were more likely to relapse, compared to 17 percent of those who did not take the drug.
"In our retrospective study, we have demonstrated that statin use during radiotherapy is associated with improved biochemical tumor control among high-risk patients," said lead researcher and oncologist Michael J. Zelefsky. "This study, along with other emerging studies, strongly suggests that statin use improves outcomes in patients treated with definitive radiation therapy."
Men who are aging may want to keep a close eye on any changes in their prostate health. Those who experience gland enlargement may buy Flomax in order to treat the condition.
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