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Unintended effects of statins in men and women in England and Wales: population based cohort study using the QResearch database

BMJ 2010; 340 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.c2197 (Published 20 May 2010) Cite this as: BMJ 2010;340:c2197

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Re: Unintended effects of statins in men and women in England and Wales: population based cohort study using the QResearch database

Dear Editors,

Statins also reduce melanomas, prostate cancers, hepatocellular carcinomas, gastric cancers, colorectal carcinomas, breast cancer recurrence and venous thromboembolisms. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

It is strange to read that this research study did not find any of these parallel effects!

Flaws in data collection or flaws in statistical analysis?

References

[1] Br J Cancer. 2012 Apr 24. doi: 10.1038/bjc.2012.138.

The differential effects of statins on the metastatic behaviour of prostate cancer.

Brown M, Hart C, Tawadros T, Ramani V, Sangar V, Lau M, Clarke N.

Genito Urinary Cancer Research Group, University of Manchester, Paterson Institute for Cancer Research, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Wilmslow Road, Withington, Manchester M20 4BX, UK.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22531631

[2] Anticancer Agents Med Chem. 2012 May 1;12(4):303-15.

Statins and protein prenylation in cancer cell biology and therapy.

Garcia-Ruiz C, Morales A, Fernandez-Checa JC.

Centro Esther Koplowitz, C/ Rossello 151, 08036-Barcelona, Spain.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22413970

[3] Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2012 Jan 21.

Effect of Statins and Anticoagulants on Prostate Cancer Aggressiveness.

Alizadeh M, Sylvestre MP, Zilli T, Van Nguyen T, Guay JP, Bahary JP, Taussky D.

Department of Radiation Oncology, Centre Hospitalier de l'Universite de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22270166

[4] Oncotarget. 2011 Dec;2(12):1176-90.

Phospholipase PLA2G7, associated with aggressive prostate cancer, promotes prostate cancercell migration and invasion and is inhibited by statins.

Vainio P, Lehtinen L, Mirtti T, Hilvo M, Seppanen-Laakso T, Virtanen J, Sankila A, Nordling S, Lundin J, Rannikko A, Oresic M, Kallioniemi O, Iljin K.

Medical Biotechnology, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, and Turku Centre for Biotechnology, University of Turku, Finland.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22202492

[5] Ann Epidemiol. 2012 Jan;22(1):17-27. doi: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2011.10.006. Epub 2011 Nov 4.

Prospective analysis of association between use of statins or other lipid-lowering agents and colorectal cancer risk.

Simon MS, Rosenberg CA, Rodabough RJ, Greenland P, Ockene I, Roy HK, Lane DS, Cauley JA, Khandekar J.

Department of Oncology, Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22056480

[6] Cancer Invest. 2011 Nov;29(9):585-93. Epub 2011 Sep 21.

Reduced risk of breast cancer recurrence in patients using ACE inhibitors, ARBs, and/or statins.

Chae YK, Valsecchi ME, Kim J, Bianchi AL, Khemasuwan D, Desai A, Tester W.

Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21936625

[7] Am J Gastroenterol. 2011 Dec;106(12):2098-103. doi: 10.1038/ajg.2011.277. Epub 2011 Aug 16.

Statins are associated with a reduced risk of gastric cancer: a population-based case-control study.

Chiu HF, Ho SC, Chang CC, Wu TN, Yang CY.
Institute of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Taiwan.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21844922

[8] Am J Med. 2010 Jan;123(1):60-5.

Statins decrease the occurrence of venous thromboembolism in patients with cancer.

Khemasuwan D, Divietro ML, Tangdhanakanond K, Pomerantz SC, Eiger G.

Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA19141, USA.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20102993

[9] Dig Dis Sci. 2009 Jun;54(6):1307-11. Epub 2009 Apr 1.

For patients with colorectal cancer, the long-term use of statins is associated with better clinical outcomes.

Siddiqui AA, Nazario H, Mahgoub A, Patel M, Cipher D, Spechler SJ.

Dallas Veteran's Affairs Medical Center, Department of Internal Medicine, Dallas, TX 75216, USA.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19337834

[10] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2143264/Statins-cut-risk-bowel...

[11] http://icscotland.icnetwork.co.uk/news/uk/today//tm_headline=statins-cou...

[12] http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/319668/Statins-could-halve-cancer-risk-

[13] http://www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/uk_national_news/9702977.Statins__cou...

Competing interests: No competing interests

05 June 2012
Stavros Saripanidis
Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Private Surgery
Thessaloniki, Greece