
In the United States, an estimated 19 million men receive the class of lipid-lowering medications known as statins. These drugs have been shown in randomized trials to lower risk of and mortality from cardiovascular disease, likely via the inhibition of the key cholesterol biosynthesis enzyme, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase. In contrast to the clear benefits for cardiovascular health, early experimental studies in rodent models raised public health concerns that statins could initiate or promote cancer in humans.
This concern was soon debunked by results from epidemiologic studies of statins and the risk of cancer, including prostate cancer. Most studies of prostate cancer have focused on risk of cancer development, finding either no association with statins or a small inverse association; however, studies of total prostate cancer risk may have missed important findings, given the marked heterogeneity in the disease’s biologic potential and the impact of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening on the natural history of prostate cancer in epidemiologic studies. In 2006, a landmark epidemiologic study focused on the risk of advanced and fatal prostate cancer, and demonstrated a strong beneficial effect of statins on these clinical prostate cancer end points that were indicative of an aggressive phenotype.
Source: Journal of Clinical Oncology







