New mouse study below [1].
Wikipedia [2]:
"Ezetimibe is a drug that lowers plasma cholesterol levels. It acts by decreasing cholesterol absorption in the small intestine. It may be used alone (marketed as Zetia or Ezetrol), when other cholesterol-lowering medications are not tolerated, or together with statins (e.g., ezetimibe/simvastatin, marketed as Vytorin or Inegy) when statins alone do not control cholesterol.
"Ezetimibe is recommended as second line therapy for those intolerant of statins or unable to achieve target LDL cholesterol levels on statins alone by several major medical group practice guidelines, but not by those of the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology."
From the new paper:
"... dual treatment of simvastatin and ezetimibe accelerated tumor growth."
"Ezetimibe significantly lowered serum cholesterol by 15% ... Ezetimibe treatment resulted in higher tumor cholesterol. A sixfold induction of low density lipoprotein receptor mRNA was observed in ezetimibe and the combination with simvastatin versus control tumors."
"This study suggests that induction of low density lipoprotein receptor is a possible mechanism of resistance that prostate tumors use to counteract the therapeutic effects of lowering serum cholesterol."
-Patrick
