Use of statins before as well as after the diagnosis of colorectal cancer (CRC) was associated with lower risks for all-cause mortality (ACM) and cancer-specific mortality (CSM). The findings were published in the journal Cancer Medicine.
Researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 14 studies (n=130,994) identified through PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, EMBASE and SCOPUS databases.
Statin use before diagnosis of CRC was associated with pooled hazard ratio [HR] of 0.85 (95% CI, 0.79-0.92; P=.346; I2=5.7%) and 0.82 (95% CI, 0.79-0.86; P=.519; I2=0.0%) for ACM and CSM, respectively. Post-diagnostic statin use was associated with pooled HR of 0.86 (95% CI, 0.76-0.98; P=.000; I2=75.3%) and 0.79 (95% CI, 0.70-0.89; P=.028; I2=55.3%) for ACM and CSM, respectively. When stratified by KRAS gene mutation status, post-diagnostic statin use was not associated with an improvement in overall survival.
The authors said: "Considering that statins are low cost and widely used agents worldwide, we believe findings can provide new insights into optimizing adjuvant treatment of CRC." They call for further studies to explore the association between KRAS mutation status and survival benefit of statin uses.
