Statins May Reduce Risk for Lung Cancer

Use of statins for more than 6 months reduced the risk for lung cancer by 55%, according to the results of a case-control study published in the May issue of Chest.
"Statins are commonly used cholesterol-lowering agents that are noted to suppress tumor cell growth in several in vitro and animal models," write Vikas Khurana, MD, from the Overton Brooks VA Medical Center at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, and colleagues. "To date, there is no effective chemopreventive agent identified as a means to reduce the incidence of lung cancer."
The authors studied the association of lung cancer and the use of statins in 483,733 patients from 8 south central states who were enrolled in the Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System. Using prospectively collected data from the Veterans Integrated Service Networks 16 VA database from 1998 to 2004, they conducted a retrospective case-control study nested in a cohort study. The primary variables evaluated were lung cancer and the use of statins before the diagnosis of lung cancer. Multiple logistic regression analysis adjusted for covariates, including age, sex, body mass index (BMI), smoking status, diabetes, and race.
Of 483,733 patients enrolled, 163,662 (33.8%) were receiving statins and 7280 (1.5%) had a primary diagnosis of lung cancer. Statin use for more than 6 months was associated with a reduced risk for lung cancer of 55% (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 0.45; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.42 - 0.48; P < .01). The protective effect of statins occurred across different age and racial groups, independent of the presence of diabetes, smoking status, or alcohol use.
"Statins appear to be protective against the development of lung cancer, and further studies need to be done to define the clinical utility of statins as chemoprotective agents," the authors write. "While thought provoking, the results of this study should be evaluated with caution."
Study limitations include predominantly male study population; observational, retrospective, case-control design; lack of adjustment for other possible risk factors for lung cancer such as exposure to asbestos, halo ethers, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, nickel, arsenic, passive smoke, and radon; exclusion of patients who obtained statin prescriptions from outside the VA system; lack of data on dose, duration, and type of statin use; and possible confounding by indication for statin use.
"Our study suggests that statins have a potential role in primary chemoprevention for lung cancer," the authors conclude.