The Impact of Statins on Prevention of Certain Cancers

Prevention of lung, colorectal, prostate, and breast cancers is not impacted by use of statins, according to study results presented at the National Lipid Association (NLA) Scientific Sessions 2023, held in Atlanta, Georgia, between June 1 and June 4, 2023.

The investigators conducted a meta-analysis after searching Cochrane, PubMed, and Embase databases from inception to October 2022 for randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and cohort studies evaluating statin use effects on incidence of lung, colorectal, prostate, and breast cancers. Pooled risk ratios (RRs) were calculated using a fixed effects model.

The investigators found no statistical significance in RCTs between statin use and increased incidence of lung cancer (RR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.76-1.09; P =.32), colorectal (RR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.81-1.13; P =.61), prostate (RR, 1.08; 95% CI, 0.93-1.25; P =.31), and breast cancer (RR, 1.08; 95% CI, 0.83-1.42; P =.56).

There was no statistical significance in cohort studies between statin use and increased incidence of lung cancer (RR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.69-0.84; P ≤.00001), colorectal (RR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.72-1.12; P =.26), prostate (RR, .70; 95% CI, 0.47-1.04; P =.08), and breast cancer (RR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.30-1.38; P =.26).

“We found no apparent evidence to support the use of statins to prevent cancer,” the investigators concluded.