Statins ‘cut bowel cancer risk by 12%’

Cholesterol-lowering drugs used to prevent heart problems can reduce the risk of bowel cancer by 12%, a study suggested today.

The beneficial effect of statins emerged from an analysis of 22 studies involving more than 2.5 million participants.

“Statin use was associated with a statistically significant reduction in colorectal cancer,” said lead research Dr Jewel Samadder, from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in the US.

The most common type of statins, known as lipophilic, had the greatest impact.

Statins block the production of cholesterol in the liver and help prevent the build up of hard deposits on the walls of arteries.

They are normally taken by people with diabetes, at risk of heart attacks or with abnormally high cholesterol levels.

But long-term statin use has been associated with a reduced risk of several cancers, including breast, prostate, lung, pancreas and liver – and now bowel.

“Our findings suggest that randomised controlled trials designed to test the hypothesis that statins reduce the risk of colorectal cancer are warranted,” said Dr Samadder.

Statins have been hailed as a “wonder drug”

The findings were presented today at the annual scientific meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology in San Antonio, Texas.

Bowel cancer is the third most common cancer in the UK, affecting around 38,600 people a year.

About 16,260 people in the UK die from the disease each year, though death rates are falling.

Statins (or HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors) are a class of drug used to lower cholesterol levels by inhibiting the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase, which plays a central role in the production of cholesterol in the liver. Increased cholesterol levels have been associated with cardiovascular diseases (CVD), and statins are therefore used in the prevention of these diseases.

Randomized controlled trials have shown that they are most effective in those already suffering from cardiovascular disease (secondary prevention), but they are also advocated and used extensively in those without previous CVD but with elevated cholesterol levels and other risk factors (such as diabetes and high blood pressure) that increase a person’s risk.

The best known of the statins is atorvastatin, marketed as Lipitor and manufactured by Pfizer. By 2003 it had become the best-selling pharmaceutical in history, with Pfizer reporting sales of $12.4 billion in 2008.

As of 2010, a number of statins are on the market: atorvastatin (Lipitor and Torvast), fluvastatin (Lescol), lovastatin (Mevacor, Altocor, Altoprev), pitavastatin (Livalo, Pitava), pravastatin (Pravachol, Selektine, Lipostat), rosuvastatin (Crestor) and simvastatin (Zocor, Lipex). Several combination preparations of a statin and another agent—such as ezetimibe/simvastatin, sold as Vytorin—are also available.