Good news on link between statin use and breast cancer

Statins, the drugs commonly taken to reduce cholesterol, could cut the risk of death in women with breast cancer by as much as 38 percent, new research has found.

Numerous reports of work done by the National Cancer Centre in Beijing said that the research found that taking statins after a breast cancer diagnosis could cut the rate of mortality from breast cancer and all other causes by 38 percent in patients who took the drugs for less than four years. Those who took statins for more than four years had a 16 percent reduction in their chance of dying from cancer or other causes, while overall statin use of any period reduced mortality by 27 percent.

The researchers found that one common type of statin, called a liophilic statin, was particularly protective against mortality, when compared with hydrophilic statins.

The findings came after doctors at the Chinese centre analysed seven earlier studies that covered almost 200,000 women. Reports noted the one possible explanation for the results, which were presented at an American Society of Clinical oncology meeting in Chicago, was that statins may be useful for delaying death from breast cancer, or that they may lower death rates from the types of breast cancer that kill quickly.

Rachel Rawson from Breast Cancer Care in the UK told The Guardian that many woman feared their breast cancer returning, so anything that reduced this risk was worth considering as a treatment option in the future.

“However, we must approach this news with caution, as further trials are needed to truly determine whether statins have a part to play,” she cautioned.

Underlining this fear, Aussie singer Olivia Newton-John revealed last week that the breast cancer she fought in 1992 had returned and had spread to other parts of her body.

It’s now, however, the first time that statins have been linked to positive news on breast cancer.

Research in 2014 found that lowering cholesterol with statins could even help prevent breast cancer. A University of Aston study of more than 600,000 British women found that the risk of breast cancer was almost double in those that had unusually high blood fat levels.

Statins are regularly prescribed to older adults as a preventative measure to help control cholesterol levels and, in theory, prevent the likelihood a heart attack or death.

But research unveiled this month found that those taking statins were no less likely to die, experience heart attacks, or other cardiovascular events than those who were not.

Do you take statins? What’s your experience been like?