News in brief - May 9, 2005

Statin use reduces risk of developing advanced prostate cancer, study says - Teens more likely to abuse pain meds than illicit drugs

Statin use reduces risk of developing advanced prostate cancer, study says

A 10-year study of more than 30,000 male health professionals found that long-term use of cholesterol-lowering statins appeared to cut in half their risk of developing advanced prostate cancer.

Although earlier, smaller studies have linked the use of statins to lower risks of prostate, breast and colon cancers, this is the first to tie risk reduction to prostate cancer while tracking the medication use before study participants got cancer.

Still, the researchers caution that the data are not conclusive enough to warrant prescribing the drug to reduce cancer risk alone. "Additional large studies may help confirm these results, but we also have some very important questions lingering as to which biochemical processes may link statins and reduced prostate cancer development," said Elizabeth Platz, ScD, MPH, assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Kimmel Cancer Center in Baltimore.

The research was to be presented last month at the annual meeting of the American Assn. for Cancer Research in Anaheim, Calif.

In their study, the researchers tracked use of cholesterol-lowering drugs (including statins and nonstatins) and prostate cancer diagnosis among a group of 34,438 male health professionals. They found no association between the use of cholesterol-lowering drugs and whether men were diagnosed with early, curable forms of prostate cancer. But they did find that men who took cholesterol-lowering medications, as opposed to those not taking them, had half the risk of eventually developing advanced prostate cancers.

By the end of the study, more than 90% of men taking cholesterol-lowering drugs opted for statins, as opposed to other cholesterol-lowering drugs.

Teens more likely to abuse pain meds than illicit drugs

Approximately one in five teens has abused a prescription painkiller to get high, and one in 11 has abused over-the-counter products, such as cough medicine, says a report by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. The report was released at an April 21 press conference.

The report shows that teens are more likely to have abused a prescription painkiller to get high than they are to have used a variety of illicit drugs, said Roy Bostock, partnership chair.

Physicians and others in public health face a major challenge in halting the abuse of these medications while ensuring that the drugs remain available for those who need them, said Michael D. Maves, MD, executive vice president and chief medical officer of the AMA. Dr. Maves is also a member of the board of directors of the partnership.

"We should not demonize these otherwise beneficial medications but rather work to change behavior," Dr. Maves said.

Physicians should alert patients to the abuse potential of medications they are prescribed and tell them to dispose of any unused portions, he said. Patients also should be advised to consider keeping the drugs out of the medicine cabinet and in some safer location that is inaccessible to their children.

Children and teens also should be counseled on the dangers of abusing prescription drugs because many believe they carry less risk than do illicit drugs.