What is it about?
Cholesterol can be changed by cells in the body into 27-Hydroxycholesterol (27HC). 27HC can act like the hormone estrogen and send signals to cells which normally respond to estrogen. Too much estrogen can increase the risk of womb cancer but whether 27HC can also have this affect is not known. We examined womb cancer tissues removed from women having surgery as part of their treatment and found that the cancer tissues had the factors needed to change cholesterol into 27HC. We looked at how cancer cells responded when they were given 27HC in a dish.
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Why is it important?
Womb cancer is the 4th most common cancer in women in the UK. Being overweight or obese is the biggest preventable risk factor for womb cancer. Commonly, women who are overweight also have increased cholesterol in the blood. We found 27HC could act like the hormone estrogen and could send signals that made cancer cells grow more quickly. This study suggests that 27HC may contribute to the risk of womb cancer.
Perspectives
Although we thought 27HC could act on endometrial cancer cells we were surprised to find that this depended on the grade of the cancer. We were able to generate stunning images looking at proliferation in the cancer tissues and these really helped us to understand what was going on. This work is important because it helps us to better understand impacts of lifestyle and diet on womb cancer risk which will help us to diagnose and treat cancers in the future.
Dr Douglas A Gibson
University of Edinburgh
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The impact of 27-hydroxycholesterol on endometrial cancer proliferation, Endocrine Related Cancer, January 2018, Bioscientifica,
DOI: 10.1530/erc-17-0449.
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