Statins have received a lot of attention and reaching a near “panacea” status for being able to provide numerous health benefits. Latest salvo was on cancer..?

However, the largest meta-analysis involving 109,143 patients in 35 randomized clinical trials investigating statins and cancer risk has found no decrease in the risk of cancer and concludes that these drugs do not appear to offer a protective effect. This was published online in the J Clin Onc in September.

The editorial credited Dr. Stefanos Bonovas, MD, and colleagues from the University of Athens, Greece is credited for "the most extensive and inclusive meta-analysis of its kind."  The finding ties in with all other meta-analyses that have previously been carried out on this subject, including a large one published earlier this year in the JAMA. 2006;295:74-80. All have reported a negative association.

In contrast, several epidemiological studies have found a positive effect of statins on reducing the risk of cancer, the editorial points out, with a decrease either in the overall cancer incidence or in site-specific cancers. One study that attracted a lot of attention, published last year in the N Engl J Med. 2005; 352:2184-2192, found a 47% decrease in the risk of colorectal cancer, based on a case-control study in Israel.

There are a lot of controversies still and obviously, the latest evidence has scientifically and strongly challenged the epidemiological data presented thus far.

Source: J Clin Oncol. Published online September 25, 2006.

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