Statin use is associated with a reduced incidence of colorectal cancer: a colonoscopy-controlled case–control study

BMC Gastroenterology

Research Article

Ian LP Beales¹  Jamie Sington²  Thomas Broughton³ 

[1] Gastroenterology Department, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, NR4 7UZ, Norwich, UK;Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, NR4 7TJ, Norwich, UK;Histopathology Department, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, NR4 7UZ, Norwich, UK;Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, NR4 7TJ, Norwich, UK;

关键词: Aspirin;    Chemoprevention;    Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA reductase inhibitors;    Colorectal adenocarcinoma;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-230X-12-36

 received in 2011-10-17, accepted in 2012-04-24,  发布年份 2012

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe aetiology of colorectal cancer (CRC) remains elusive in the majority of cases. There is experimental evidence to show that HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) may inhibit proliferation and induce cause apoptosis in CRC cells and although some clinical studies have suggested that statins may protect against the development of CRC, this has not been a consistent finding. Therefore we have examined any potential protective effects of statins by comparing statin use in patients with colorectal cancer against a control group.MethodsThis was a case–control study examining statin use in symptomatic patients attending for diagnostic colonoscopy. Statin use was compared between patients with CRC and a control group, who had all had normal colonoscopy. Structured interviews and clinical records notes were used to determine drug exposure. Logistic regression was used to compare statin exposure and correct for confounding factors.ResultsThere was a significant inverse association between previous statin use and a diagnosis of CRC (OR = 0.43 (95% confidence interval 0.25 – 0.80), p<0.01). This inverse association was stronger with higher statin doses (OR = 0.19 (0.07 – 0.47), p<0.01) and greater duration of statin use (statin use >years: OR = 0.18 (0.06 – 0.55), p<0.01).ConclusionsStatins use was associated with a protective effect against the development of CRC. This effect is associated with a significant dose and duration response. These findings need to be repeated in other observational studies before an interventional study can be considered.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Broughton et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd 2012. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.