Metformin and Statins for Prostate Cancer

BY MARK SCHOLZ, MD

As an internist and an oncologist, throughout my long career treating prostate cancer patients, I have periodically been asked by patients, “What do you do?  Surgeons (urologists) operate, and radiation doctors give radiation, but what do prostate oncologists do?”  My day-to-day, bread and butter is giving medical advice and prescribing oral medications. Unfortunately, I think this leads to some patients seeing me as a “pill pusher.” As such, I think I need to explain my motives for recommending the use of metformin and statins to my patients with prostate cancer.

One of the things that the last 20 years of my career treating prostate cancer has taught me is that a good diet has a favorable effect on inhibiting prostate cancer progression.  What converted me from a nonbeliever to a believer?  My patients.  A number of men have come to me through the years whose PSA was rising after surgery and who subsequently embarked on stringent vegan or macrobiotic diets. Lo and behold, as long as they stayed on their diets their PSA levels would stabilize. Subsequently, T. Colin Campbell published a very convincing book called The China Study that evaluated the connection between increased animal protein intake and cancer rates.  His findings conclusively demonstrated that high animal protein intake increases cancer risk.

How can diet make such an impact?  We don’t have all the answers but there are some very logical suppositions.  First, cancer cells “hurt” people by the process of cellular multiplication, ultimately spreading throughout the body and causing organ malfunction. It’s logical to assume that “better fed” cancers, the ones that get plenty of protein and energy, will grow faster and better than cancers that are relatively deprived.  Animal protein not only provides all the necessary amino acids for the construction of new cells, animal protein is invariably accompanied by substantial amounts of a potent energy source—fat (People forget that the average hamburger is over 50% fats). High protein diets also increase the level of insulin in the blood. And high insulin levels drive sugar and protein uptake into the cancer cells, further promoting growth. And lastly, dietary cholesterol is not only a type of “fat,” but it is also a hormonal precursor, a building block for DHEA and testosterone.

Unfortunately, few of us have the ability to follow strict vegan diets. It’s a lot of work and requires constant self-denial.  Certain medications, however, can achieve some of the same effects. Metformin, a generic medication approved for the treatment of diabetes, suppresses insulin levels in the blood. Studies in diabetic men with prostate cancer who are treated with metformin have shown lower prostate cancer mortality rates compared to diabetic men who are treated with other types of diabetic medications besides metformin.  Statins pills, medications such as Lipitor and Crestor, dramatically lower cholesterol levels.  Numerous studies have reported higher cure rates in prostate cancer patients receiving radiation who are treated with statins compared to radiation-treated patients who don’t receive a statin.

Regular exercise prolongs life in cancer patients.  If we had a pill that could accomplish what exercise can do—improved energy levels, sleep, digestion, memory, longevity and less depression—everyone would take it.  Many patients are lukewarm about prescription pills like metformin and statins, probably mainly due to concerns about side effects.  But side effects can be anticipated with careful monitoring.  When a medication side effect occurs it can be detected early and when the medication is stopped the problem is almost always resolved.  Following a rigorous macrobiotic diet for the rest of your life is beyond the reach of most of us. Taking an FDA-approved pill, while using careful precautions against potential side effects, is achievable for almost all of us. 

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Risk

BY RALPH BLUM

Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in the U.S. affecting one in seven men. It is estimated that there are nearly 3 million American men currently living with prostate cancer and it is still not known what causes the disease. However, here are the main factors that might affect your risk level of risk.

Age
Age is the most significant risk factor. Your risk increases exponentially as you get older. In old age, up to 8 out of 10 men harbor microscopic amounts of the disease in their prostate, live with it, and die of something else. In the opinion of one well-known urologist, “If you are over seventy and you don’t have prostate cancer, chances are you’re a woman.”

A Family History of Cancer
Generally speaking if you have a father or brother who was diagnosed with prostate cancer you are twice as likely to develop the disease compared to the average man, while men with two or more relatives with the disease are nearly four times as likely to be diagnosed. If your relatives were diagnosed before the age of 60, this increases the risk slightly. And the younger the age at diagnosis, the more likely it is you have a faulty gene called BRCA2 in the family. Cutting edge research is ongoing to read and interpret the genetic code of prostate cancer.

Race & Ethnicity
Prostate cancer is more common in black Caribbean and black African men than in white or Asian men. The difference seems to be a mixture of inherited genes and environmental factors. African American men are 56% more likely to develop prostate cancer than Caucasian men, and nearly 2.5 times more likely to die from the disease.

Height & Body Weight
Research has shown that taller men have a higher risk of getting aggressive prostate cancer, or prostate cancer that has spread. And there are a number of studies confirming that men who overeat and who are overweight display increased incidence and aggressiveness of the disease.

IGF-1
Insulin growth factor is involved in the regulation of normal cell growth and death. Some studies have shown that men with a higher level of IGF-1 in the blood have a higher risk of developing prostate cancer. So it is not high blood sugar, but rather the high level of insulin triggered by high blood sugar that stimulates rapid cancer growth.

So what can you do to inhibit prostate cancer growth?  Unfortunately, the days of eating everything you want are over. There has never been a more important time in your life to eat sensibly.  Your diet can no longer be rich in animal fat, processed and fast food and low in fruit and vegetables. We did not evolve and develop to eat this way.  This doesn’t mean you can never have another piece of pizza.  But it does mean that having less than 10% of calories from animal protein can result in a dramatic reduction in cancer risk.

Bottom line, you are not without power in influencing your level prostate cancer risk.