Statin drugs, such as Lipitor® and Zocor® refer to a class of drugs that interfere with the way cholesterol is made in the body. They work by blocking a particular enzyme (called HMG CoA reductase) needed by the liver to make cholesterol. In the past, statin drugs have gained a bad reputation because of their link with rare conditions, such as liver disease and rhabdomyolysis, while taking them. It is because of those two mentioned conditions alone that some patients cannot use statin drugs as part of the cholesterol-lowering therapies. New evidence, however, suggests that statin drugs may do more than just lower cholesterol levels. The data, which was released by two research groups at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference yesterday, gave preliminary evidence that individuals taking statin drugs may lower their incidence of getting certain cancers.
The first research group, lead by Dr. Stephen Gruber of the University of Michigan, looked at the relationship between statins and the incidence of colon cancer. His study used roughly 3500 Israeli patients; half of these patients had been previously diagnosed with colon cancer and the other half did not have colon cancer. When asked whether or not these patients took statins, it was found that most of the patients who did not have colon cancer had taken statins for five years or more. Gruber and his colleagues concluded that taking statin drugs for at least five years could be correlated with an almost 50% decreased risk of getting colon cancer.
The second research group, led by Dr. Jackilen Shannon of Oregon Health & Science University, studied the relationship between prostate cancer and taking statin drugs. Her group analyzed prostate biopsy results obtained from at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center. After identifying positive and negative biopsy results, her research group studied the correlation between their biopsy results and the dosage of statin drug that they took (if any). It was found that patients taking statin drugs had a lower risk of prostate cancer. Additionally, it was also found the prostate serum antigen (PSA) levels were lower in patients who were taking statin drugs compared to those who were not. Elevated PSA levels usually indicate the presence of an abnormality within the prostate gland and could, but not always, signify the presence of cancer.
Although the data is preliminary, these findings indicate that statins may play a second role in lowering the risk of certain cancers. Unfortunately, more research needs to be done in order to establish a definite link between taking statins and the reduction of cancer. Statin drugs have gained a better reputation over the past couple of months. For instance, statin drugs have recently been recognized in lowering the occurrence of brain lesions in patients who have multiple sclerosis. There are also other important findings concerning statin drugs that may alleviate the bad reputation it has received in the past, such as its link to reducing strokes and possibly Alzheimers’ disease. All of these finding signify that cholesterol may play other roles, too, such as interacting with other molecular pathways to produce cancer in the body.
~Jennifer Moll
