July 21, 2001 (Cincinnati, OH) — A large retrospective analysis of statin use among a general population of older adults showed no association between the use of the cholesterol-lowering medication and the risk of cancer [1]. After more than four-and-a-half years of follow-up, the incidence of cancer was nearly identical in patients treated with statin therapy and matched controls, report investigators.
"In this analysis, the distributions of cancer types seen in both groups were comparable," writes Dr Claudio Marelli (S2 Statistical Solutions, Cincinnati, OH) and colleagues in the July 21, 2011 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. "Cancer is a multifactorial disease, and if statins were truly associated with an increase in cancer, we would have expected to see an increase in at least one type of cancer, as is typically seen with toxin-related neoplasms."
The new data are from the General Electric Centricity (GEC) database, a commercial electronic medical records (EMR) system used by thousands of US physicians for the management of medical records of more than 30 million patients.
Using propensity-score methods, investigators identified 45 857 matched patients (statin users and nonusers) from 1990 to 2009. After an average follow-up of 4.6 years, the incidence of cancer was 11.37% in statin-treated patients and 11.11% in matched controls not taking a statin. Before matching, cancer occurred in 11.7% of patients taking a statin and in 11% of patients not taking the medication.
Dr James de Lemos (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas), who was not involved in the analysis, told heartwire that the data line up with the existing literature, noting that there is even higher-quality evidence--from randomized trials and meta-analyses--that has conclusively shown there is no signal for cancer with statins.
"I think that's the accepted belief among the vast majority of physicians," he said. "There are a fringe of physicians who continue to question the safety and efficacy of statins. They have been unconvinced, and they tend to have a loud megaphone, so even though a vast majority of the medical community doesn't think there is a credible risk, there is a minority that remains concerned and they get traction with the worried well. It does create some challenges with maintaining compliance to statin therapy."
In 2005, the Cholesterol Treatment Trialists (CTT) published a meta-analysis of 14 randomized clinical trials that included more than 90 000 patients and found no evidence of cancer with statin use. The group also presented an updated meta-analysis in 2010, again supporting the original findings. Similarly, other analyses have shown that statin use, when adjusted for LDL-cholesterol levels, did not increase the risk of cancer, including research performed by Drs Alawi Alsheikh-Ali and Richard Karas (Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA), previously reported by heartwire .
"In this analysis, the distributions of cancer types seen in both groups were comparable," writes Dr Claudio Marelli (S2 Statistical Solutions, Cincinnati, OH) and colleagues in the July 21, 2011 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. "Cancer is a multifactorial disease, and if statins were truly associated with an increase in cancer, we would have expected to see an increase in at least one type of cancer, as is typically seen with toxin-related neoplasms."
The new data are from the General Electric Centricity (GEC) database, a commercial electronic medical records (EMR) system used by thousands of US physicians for the management of medical records of more than 30 million patients.
Using propensity-score methods, investigators identified 45 857 matched patients (statin users and nonusers) from 1990 to 2009. After an average follow-up of 4.6 years, the incidence of cancer was 11.37% in statin-treated patients and 11.11% in matched controls not taking a statin. Before matching, cancer occurred in 11.7% of patients taking a statin and in 11% of patients not taking the medication.
Dr James de Lemos (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas), who was not involved in the analysis, told heartwire that the data line up with the existing literature, noting that there is even higher-quality evidence--from randomized trials and meta-analyses--that has conclusively shown there is no signal for cancer with statins.
"I think that's the accepted belief among the vast majority of physicians," he said. "There are a fringe of physicians who continue to question the safety and efficacy of statins. They have been unconvinced, and they tend to have a loud megaphone, so even though a vast majority of the medical community doesn't think there is a credible risk, there is a minority that remains concerned and they get traction with the worried well. It does create some challenges with maintaining compliance to statin therapy."
In 2005, the Cholesterol Treatment Trialists (CTT) published a meta-analysis of 14 randomized clinical trials that included more than 90 000 patients and found no evidence of cancer with statin use. The group also presented an updated meta-analysis in 2010, again supporting the original findings. Similarly, other analyses have shown that statin use, when adjusted for LDL-cholesterol levels, did not increase the risk of cancer, including research performed by Drs Alawi Alsheikh-Ali and Richard Karas (Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA), previously reported by heartwire .
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