NEW ORLEANS (CNN) - Cholesterol lowering drugs called 'statins' may play a role in colorectal cancer prevention, according to a new study presented at a major cancer conference Sunday.

"Our study showed that individuals who take statins appear to have a dramatically reduced risk of colorectal cancer," says Dr. Stephen Gruber, director of Cancer Genetics Clinic at the University of Michigan.

Researchers from the University of Michigan and the CHS National Cancer Control Center in Israel looked at 1,608 patients with colorectal cancer and compared them to 1,734 patients of similar age, gender and ethnicity who didn't have colon cancer.

They found patients, who took these commonly prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs for more than five years, had a 46 percent lower risk of getting colon cancer than those who didn't.

Statins -- which include Pfizer Inc.'s (PFE: Research, Estimates) $10 billion-a-year Lipitor, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s (BMY: Research, Estimates) Pravachol and Merck and Co.'s (MRK: Research, Estimates) Zocor -- interfere with an enzyme called HMG-CoA reductase that enables the liver to produce cholesterol.

In laboratory studies they also interfered with the growth of cancer cells.

"Pravastatin (Pravachol) and simvastatin (Zocor) had similarly protective effects" against colorectal cancer, Gruber said, suggesting all members of the statin class somehow interfere with development of tumors.

Gruber presented the study results at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncologists (ASCO) Sunday.

YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS Pfizer Incorporated Cancer Diseases Bristol Myers Squibb Company or Create your own Manage alerts | What is this?

"This represents potentially a new class of drugs that might have broader effects that we've ever expected," Gruber said. "These effects are more than just lowering cholesterol. They actually appear to affect the way cells grow and divide and that could be good news for reducing the risk of colon cancer."

Gruber is not recommending that doctors start prescribing these particular cholesterol-lowering drugs to patients to prevent colorectal cancer. More research needs to be done for that to occur.

But patients already on statins to lower their cholesterol levels, may also be lowering their risk for colon cancer at the same time.

"The best approach in colorectal cancer prevention is still screening," said Dr. Hermann Cattlove, of the American Cancer Society (ACS).

Colorectal cancer is the third most common form of cancer in men and women in the United States, according to the latest statistics provided by the American Cancer Society.

The study was funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI).