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“Cholesterol-lowering statins taken by millions might help prevent prostate cancer returning,” according to The Daily Telegraph. The newspaper said a study has found that men taking statins before their prostate removal surgery were less likely to show signs of the cancer returning.

The study looked at data on 1,319 men who had their prostate removed as a result of prostate cancer, following them up for approximately two to three years on average. The researchers made statistical adjustments to account for differences between statin users and non-users. After this, they found that men who had been taking statins were at 30% reduced risk of having an increase in levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a protein that can indicate the cancer is coming back. The study did not look at whether statin use was associated with differences in length of survival, or the risk of the cancer spreading to other parts of the body.

Statins have been hailed as a “wonder drug”

Although this study took into account a range of factors that could have affected the results, other differences between statin users and non-users could still have contributed to the differences seen. As the researchers suggest, if other studies support their findings, it would need a randomised controlled trial of statins to confirm any potential effect on recurrence rates.

The researchers looked at data collected on 1,319 men who received radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer. They identified those men who had been taking statins, and looked at whether the time taken for these men to have a recurrence of prostate cancer was different to those not taking statins.

The researchers obtained the data from the Shared Equal Access Regional Cancer Hospital (SEARCH) database. Men who received radical prostatectomy between 1996 and 2008 at five Veterans Association medical centres across the US were eligible. For inclusion, the men also had to have data available on their statin use, the characteristics of their cancer, their length of follow up and their race.

Recurrence of prostate cancer was defined based on raised PSA levels in the blood. Recurrence was defined as PSA levels higher than 0.2ng/mL on one occasion, two measurements of 0.2ng/mL, or receiving further treatment as a result of detectable PSA levels. Statin use before and after the surgery was assessed, with men taking statins for one or more days before surgery being classed as users. Statin use starting after surgery was not assessed.

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