An Update on Statins and Cancer

Studies in the past have shown a correlation between low LDL cholesterol levels and the risk of cancer. Whether this correlation is merely an association or a cause-and-effect relationship has remained unclear. That is, whether low cholesterol increases the risk of cancer, or whether cancer lowers cholesterol, has not been sorted out

But as a result of this association, a persistent question has been whether lowering cholesterol levels with statins (which, in appropriately selected patients, will significantly reduce the risk of heart attack and death), will increase the risk of developing cancer. We discussed this issue here last summer.

This week, researchers published a major study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology looking at whether statins increase the risk of developing cancer. The conclusion: they do not.

In this study, the incidence of cancer in over 51,000 patients treated with statins was compared to the incidence in over 45,000 patients treated with placebo. While lower LDL cholesterol levels in this study correlated with a higher risk of developing cancer, thus confirming the association seen in previous studies, the investigators were able to conclude that treatment with statins did not increase that risk. That is, patients whose cholesterol levels were lowered by statins had approximately the same risk of cancer as patients not treated with statins who had higher cholesterol levels.

The results of this study should go a long way toward allaying the fears of those who have been concerned that statins may increase the risk of cancer. However, this study represented a meta-analysis of many other studies which were not designed to specifically answer this question, so its results – while very comforting – cannot be considered definitive.

The question of when and whether to use statins is addressed here.

_Sources:

Alsheikh-Ali AA, Trikalinos TA, Kent DM, Karas RH. Statins, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and risk of cancer. J Am Coll Cardiol 2008; DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2008.06.037.