Prostate Cancer—Focus on Cholesterol

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Prostate cancer presents a significant global public health burden. One of its established risk factors is high fat diet. It has been proven that cholesterol levels in blood and prostate tissue are out of balance, while cholesterol metabolism in prostate cancer is deregulated and plays an important role in cancer progression. In this review we have shown the connection between commonly deregulated pathways in prostate cancer and cholesterol metabolism. ABSTRACT: Prostate cancer (PC) is the most common malignancy in men. Common characteristic involved in PC pathogenesis are disturbed lipid metabolism and abnormal cholesterol accumulation. Cholesterol can be further utilized for membrane or hormone synthesis while cholesterol biosynthesis intermediates are important for oncogene membrane anchoring, nucleotide synthesis and mitochondrial electron transport. Since cholesterol and its biosynthesis intermediates influence numerous cellular processes, in this review we have described cholesterol homeostasis in a normal cell. Additionally, we have illustrated how commonly deregulated signaling pathways in PC (PI3K/AKT/MTOR, MAPK, AR and p53) are linked with cholesterol homeostasis regulation.