Statins may protect against site-specific cancers

Statin use may reduce the risk of cancer at several sites, including the liver, lung, colon, and rectum, especially for individuals with diabetes, as shown in a retrospective study.

Researchers looked at territory-wide electronic health records of Hong Kong between 2000 and 2021 and identified patients who had a complete lipid profile and no cancer history. Prescription records on statin were obtained to determine statin exposure. Statin use was defined as use of atorvastatin, fluvastatin, lovastatin, pravastatin, rosuvastatin, or/and simvastatin for at least 30 days.

The analyses included 1,510,263 patients, of whom 753,504 were statin users and 756,759 were nonusers. Over a median follow-up of 7.25 years, colorectal, liver, and lung cancers occurred in 24,277, 10,879, and 23,166 patients, respectively.

Compared with nonusers, statin users had a lower risk of all three cancers. The greatest risk reduction was observed for liver cancer (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 0.43, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.40–0.45, followed by lung (aHR, 0.73, 95 percent CI, 0.71–0.76) and colorectal (aHR, 0.82, 95 percent CI, 0.79–0.85) cancers.

In subgroup analyses, the reduced risk of site-specific cancers associated with statin use was greater among patients with diabetes but similar between smokers and nonsmokers.

Interaction patters were observed between statin use and smoking across the three cancers and between statin use and diabetes in liver cancer.