Scientists researching the causes of prostate cancer - the most common cancer to afflict men - have found the first direct link between high cholesterol and the condition.

Researchers in Italy have found that men with prostate cancer are 50% more likely to have high cholesterol levels than those not suffering from the disease.

An association has been suggested before - and cholesterol-busting statins have been found to cut the risk of developing the disease by two thirds - but the study is the first to show a statistically significant, direct relationship between the two conditions. The research, published today in the online version of the Annals of Oncology, also found a link between gallstones and prostate cancer.

Epidemiologists from the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Milan used data from 1991-2002 involving 1,294 men aged 75 and under with prostate cancer. They questioned men about their medical history, lifestyle habits, such as smoking and drinking, and family history of cancer, and compared this with 1,451 men of the same age admitted to the same hospitals with acute non-cancerous conditions.

"We found that, after allowing for any potential confounding factors, men with prostate cancer were 50% more likely to have had high cholesterol levels than our non-prostate cancer controls" said Dr Francesca Bravi, the study's lead author. "We also found that prostate cancer patients were 26% more likely to suffer from gallstones than our controls. Although not statistically significant, gallstones are often related to high cholesterol levels. To our knowledge, there have been no previous studies reporting any relationship between gallstones and prostate cancer."

The researchers believe the link can be explained since cholesterol is involved in the production of androgens - male sex hormones that have a role in the formation of prostate tissue and cancer.

Prostate cancer, which is thought to be linked to diet, is particularly prevalent in the western world, with 32,000 men in Britain being diagnosed with it each year and 10,000 dying from it.

Chris Hiley, head of policy and research at the Prostate Cancer Charity, said men should cut down their intake of fatty food and red and processed meat, and eat a high fibre diet, with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables and oily fish.