Long-term statin users at risk of colon cancer

Use of statins does not appear to be chemopreventive against colorectal cancer (CRC), and no significant association exists between total cholesterol level and CRC risk, a study has found. In addition, long-term statin use may increase the risk of colon cancer.

The authors followed eligible participants (100,300 women and 47,991 men) in the Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study for up to 24 years. They estimated hazard ratios (HRs) and 95 percent confidence intervals (CIs) using Cox proportional hazards models.

A total of 2,924 incident CRC cases were documented during follow-up. Fully adjusted analyses revealed that longer duration of statin use correlated with an increased risk of colon cancer (1‒5 years: HR, 1.09, 95 percent CI, 0.95‒1.25; 6‒10 years: HR, 1.16, 95 percent CI, 0.99‒1.36; 11‒15 years: HR, 1.08, 95 percent CI, 0.81‒1.44; >15 years: HR, 1.85, 95 percent CI, 1.30‒2.61; vs never users; p_trend=0.004) instead of rectal cancer.

The increase in such risk was propelled by proximal (1‒5 years: HR, 1.16, 95 percent CI, 0.98‒1.38; 6‒10 years: HR, 1.19, 95 percent CI, 0.98‒1.45; 11‒15 years: HR, 1.25, 95 percent CI, 0.89‒1.74; >15 years: HR, 2.17, 95 percent CI, 1.46‒3.24; vs never users; p_trend=0.001) rather than distal colon cancer.

“The results remained robust in analyses among participants with hypercholesterolaemia or who never received screening,” the authors said, adding that total cholesterol level did not correlate with CRC risk.