Statins could halve risk of dying from Cancer

The research, presented in Chicago at the world’s biggest cancer treatment conference, found statins increased women’s survival from common cancers such as breast, bowel and ovarian cancer by 40%. In bone cancer, the death rate was reduced by 55%. A second study showed that men with advanced prostate cancer taking statins were also 40% less likely to die than those who were not.
The two studies were observational, they looked back to see whether there was a difference in the death rate in a large group of people with cancer, some of whom had been taking statins and some of whom had not. They were not randomised controlled trials, considered the “gold standard” in drug research.
Dr Ange Wang of the Stanford University School of Medicine, who led the women’s study, said the findings suggest statins could play an important part in cancer treatment. “We’re definitely very excited by these results,” she said. Unlike aspirin, which research has shown can help prevent cancers, statins did not have a protective effect among those who took them, but once they had cancer, they were less likely to die from it.