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Statin Use in Patients with Esophageal Cancer
Am J Gastroenterol; ePub 2018 Jun 27; Nguyen, et al
In patients with esophageal cancer (EC), post-diagnosis statin use was associated with reduced mortality, a recent study found. Researchers identified 7,882 patients with EC and 3,868 with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) from the VA Central Cancer Registry diagnosed between 2002 and 2016. Prescriptions for statins that were filled before and after cancer diagnosis were identified. Among the findings:
- Statin use after diagnosis was recorded in 27.4% of EAC and 17.1% of ESCC patients.
- In EAC patients, statin use after diagnosis was associated with a decreased risk of cancer specific (HR, 0.79) and all-cause mortality (HR, 0.80).
- Similarly, statin use after diagnosis of ESCC was associated with a decreased risk of cancer specific (HR, 0.77) and all-cause mortality (HR, 0.83).
- The inverse associations were attenuated towards the null with a 6-month lag.
Nguyen T, Khan A, Liu Y, El-Serag HB, Thrift AP. The association between statin use after diagnosis and mortality risk in patients with esophageal cancer: A retrospective cohort study of United States veterans. [Published online ahead of print June 27, 2018]. Am J Gastroenterol. doi:10.1038/s41395-018-0169-6.