Statin Use After Breast Cancer Diagnosis Might Affect Breast Cancer–Related Mortality

Statin drugs inhibit the mevalonate pathway, which is essential not only for cholesterol production but also for cancer cell proliferation, survival, and metastases. Does statin use favorably affect outcomes in patients with breast cancer? In a Danish registry study of 67,000 women with stage I to III breast cancer (diagnosed with between 2000 and 2021) and without prior statin exposure, researchers evaluated associations between statin initiation after breast cancer diagnosis and mortality. Patients were followed for 10 years or until death.

Women who initiated statins within 3 years after breast cancer diagnosis had significantly lower 10-year breast cancer–related mortality than did noninitiators (11.8% vs. 13.5%; hazard ratio, 0.9). All-cause mortality also was lower with statin initiation, but this finding did not meet prespecified statistical significance (HR, 0.92; 95% confidence interval, 0.85–1.00). Starting statins closer to the time of diagnosis had more-favorable effects with significant risk reductions for both breast cancer-related and all-cause mortality. Five-year overall survival was significantly better among statin initiators (89.8% vs 87.8%).