Do triglyceride levels indicate a recurrence?
RALP almost 3 years ago. No problems. Blood work since shows PSA as virtually undetectable. I’m 74, not overweight, exercise five days a week, watch what I eat and feel pretty good overall.
About a month ago I had to visit my GP for another matter during which time he asked me if I was due for a PSA - I told him my urologist has one scheduled for May. During our conversation at one point, he mentioned an endoscopy and then scheduled me for more blood work, which will be coming up this week. Specifically, he mentioned that my triglyceride levels had gone way up and he wanted to take another look at them.
When I got home I looked at my last lab work and compared it to the most recent one and saw that my triglyceride level had increased by a little over 50%. I’ve read since that an increase in triglycerides levels may often indicate a recurrence of PCa in patients who had not previously taken statins before their initial surgery. (I have been taking statins for elevated cholesterol for the better part of twenty years.)
Anyone out there with any knowledge about triglyceride levels and PCa recurrence?
Hi Mulligan. I can't personally speak to high triglycerides and prostate cancer recurrence, but doing a little research I did locate studies finding a link between high triglycerides and the risk of prostate cancer recurrence (see: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25304929/ and https://ascopost.com/News/18668). What I did not find is any research indicating that a sudden increase in triglycerides is and indicator of prostate cancer recurrence. Also of particular note is that the use of statins has been associated with a lower risk of recurrence. In fact, the studies looked at men who had not used statins prior to their prostatectomy.
The main thing is that you are getting these new findings checked out. It is important that your doctors examine all the possibilities, as there are are a number of potential causes of a spike in triglycerides. Hope you get some answers soon and please feel free to keep us posted on how you are doing. Best, Richard (ProstateCancer.net Team)
Mulligan - good for you and glad to hear you are undetectable - fingers crossed for you. About 70% of men are in your situation. The remaining 30% due I suspect to genetics see the cancer return . It can be treated and cured or sadly it may just be one of those nasty ones that becomes a ongoing problem
