In a series of scientific presentations at the recent 2005 American Society of Clinical Oncology meetings, researchers from the Louisiana State University have suggested that, in a population of veterans, the use of statins is associated with a significant reduction in several varieties of cancer.
These studies were conducted on a database of over 1 million patients (men and women) cared for in the VA health care system between October 1998 and June 2004. The database was examined to look at the incidence of various kinds of cancer in patients who were taking statins, compared to patients who were not, and statistical controls were applied to account for differences in age, smoking, weight, diabetes, and gender. The investigators found evidence that statins were associated with a reduction in the risk of at least 5 types of cancer - lung, prostate, breast, pancreatic, and esophageal- and further, that for each of these cancers the reduction in risk approached or exceeded 50%.
DrRich comments:
DrRich is reluctant to post yet another article on the benefits of statin therapy, especially another benefit that sounds too good to be true. Each time he writes about statins, he is deluged with e-mails from people who accuse him of being a shill for the evil drug companies, and of promoting a vast conspiracy to fool unsuspecting victims into taking this toxic stuff. So, let fly if you must.
I cannot let these recent reports go without comment, however. How should all the press reports on statins reducing cancer risk be interpreted?
In my opinion, the evidence that statins reduce cancer risk is not proven, but also not outlandish. Statins inhibit an enzyme called HMG-CoA reductase, an action that favorably alters lipid metabolism (which is why statins are sold) but that also has the potential to do several other things. One of these is to cause in increase in several molecules that help regulate the lifecycle of cells. These molecules, it is entirely possible, may reduce the ability of cancer cells to divide and thrive.
So: DrRich is keeping an open mind. Statins are not approved or indicated for the reduction of cancer risk, nor will they be until randomized clinical trials are conducted to prove the observations made in these new studies. And that's not likely to happen (even if statins really do have this effect) for years. In the meantime, patients who need to be treated for cholesterol, and who also are at increased risk for cancer, might reasonably have a preference for statin therapy as opposed to other agents for cholesterol reduction.
