Statin therapy has no adverse effect
on cancer at any site or in any group of individuals
In the largest and most reliable study of its type, the
University of Oxford (UK) and the University of Sydney (Australia) have demonstrated
that statin therapy is not a cause of increased cancer rates and deaths. The conclusions
of this study will reassure the millions of people worldwide who are taking statins
to lower cholesterol levels, and clarifies earlier research that had raised concerns
of a causal link.
The Cholesterol Treatment Trialists' Collaboration examined data from 170,000
people captured from 26 randomized and controlled trials. Of these people, over
10,000 of them developed cancer and over 3,500 died from cancer. Analysis determined
that cancer rates and deaths were exactly the same in people taking statin therapy
as those being given a placebo tablet. Doctor Jonathan Emberson, University of
Oxford British Heart Foundation Senior Statistician, notes, "Statin therapy
had no adverse effect on cancer at any site or in any group of individuals, irrespective
of their cholesterol levels. There was also no association of cancer with statin
dose or duration."
Due to its large size, the study was able to refute previous suggestions that
statin therapy might cause particular types of cancer, such as breast cancer,
or that it might cause cancer in particular groups of people. Previous research
into this topic had been based on relatively small trials or studies that could
not exclude the effect of other factors. By contrast, this analysis of all the
randomized trials provides the most reliable evidence about the benefits and risks
of statin therapy.
The study also demonstrated that when comparing a high statin dose with a standard
dose, cancer risk was not increased. Even among people with already low cholesterol
levels, further reducing these levels with more potent statin regimens did not
increase their risk of cancer. Commenting on this, Professor Colin Baigent of
the Medical Research Council and coordinator of the Oxford team said, "This
study demonstrates reliably that reducing LDL, or bad, cholesterol with statin
therapy has no adverse effects on cancer, at least within a period of about 5
years".
Professor Rory Collins, British Heart Foundation Professor of Medicine and
Epidemiology at the University of Oxford, and co-principal investigator of the
project, concluded "These findings are extremely reassuring for patients.
Statins are one of the most effective known therapies for the prevention of heart
attacks and strokes, and this study should reassure the millions of people who
are taking them worldwide".
The study was reported at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2010.
It was funded by the UK Medical Research Council, the British Heart Foundation
and the National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia), and involved
collaborators from all over the world.
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