Use of a lipid-lowering food supplement in patients on hormone therapy following breast cancer.

AIM The aim of this paper was to determine the activity of a natural nutraceuticals combination (AP=Berberine+Red Yeast Rice) on dyslipidemia which frequently persists after life style changes in patients on hormone-therapy following breast cancer (HT-BC). METHODS Twenty-one HT-BC patients, free of tumor, mean age 59.9 years, BMI 28,9 kg/m2, waist circumference 95.9 cm, with altered lipid profile (total cholesterol 269.0 mg/dL, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol 54.9 mg/dL, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol 184.0 mg/dL, and triglycerides 263.3 mg/dL) were recruited. They were recommended a 3-month period of diet followed by a 3-month period of treatment with AP 1 tablet/day. AP tablets contain berberine 500 mg, red yeast rice extract 200 mg (equivalent to 3 mg monacolins), policosanol 10 mg, folic acid 0.2 mg, coenzyme Q10 2 mg, and asthaxantin 0.5 mg. RESULTS The lipid profile was significantly improved by AP vs. diet: 1.8% decrease in total cholesterol on diet and a further 15.3% decrease with AP vs. diet (P<0.001); a 3.1% decrease in LDL cholesterol after diet and an 18.9% decrease after AP treatment vs diet alone (P<0.01); a 2.3% decrease in triglycerides after diet alone and a 36.5% decrease after AP vs. diet (P<0.05). CONCLUSION Adequate life style therapy is effective in reducing, but not in normalizing, the lipid profile in patients on hormone-therapy following breast cancer. The use of natural nutraceuticals as AP, combined with diet, leads to a good therapeutic response and optimal acceptance by the patients.