Statins linked to lower rates
of breast cancer and mortality
European Society of
Cardiology
A 14 year study in
more than one million people has found that women with high cholesterol have
significantly lower rates of breast cancer and improved mortality. The
research, presented at ESC Congress, suggests that statins are associated
with lower rates of breast cancer and subsequent mortality.
"This is the most
conclusive and direct evidence as yet to confirm the link between high
cholesterol and breast cancer, a topic that has been fascinating researchers
for the past few years," said Dr Rahul Potluri, senior author and founder
of the ACALM Study Unit at Aston Medical School, Aston University, Birmingham,
UK.
"We previously found an association between having high cholesterol and developing breast cancer so we designed this study to follow up patients longitudinally and address the relationship more robustly," he continued.
"Showing that patients with high cholesterol have a lower risk of developing breast cancer and subsequent mortality in a longitudinal study like this provides the strongest evidence for a protective effect, which is likely related to statins."
The current study
followed-up women aged 40 or more with, and without, a diagnosis of high
cholesterol and compared the development of breast cancer and subsequent
mortality rates in the two groups.
Patients admitted to UK hospitals with high cholesterol between 1 January 2000 and 31 March 2013 were recruited from the Algorithm for Comorbidities, Associations, Length of stay and Mortality (ACALM) clinical database.
They were followed-up until 2013 for a new diagnosis of breast cancer and subsequent mortality obtained from the Office for National Statistics. Analyses were performed to adjust for demographic and clinical characteristics between the groups.
Patients admitted to UK hospitals with high cholesterol between 1 January 2000 and 31 March 2013 were recruited from the Algorithm for Comorbidities, Associations, Length of stay and Mortality (ACALM) clinical database.
They were followed-up until 2013 for a new diagnosis of breast cancer and subsequent mortality obtained from the Office for National Statistics. Analyses were performed to adjust for demographic and clinical characteristics between the groups.
Out of a total of 1
220,024 patients in the ACALM study, there were 16,043 women with high
cholesterol aged 40 or over who were compared to an equivalently sized and
age-matched group of patients without high cholesterol.
The researchers found
that those with high cholesterol were 45% less likely to develop breast cancer
than those without high cholesterol.
After adjusting for factors which might influence mortality, including age, sex, ethnicity, and the ten most common causes of death in the UK, the researchers found that patients who developed breast cancer were 40% less likely to die if they had high cholesterol than if they did not.
After adjusting for factors which might influence mortality, including age, sex, ethnicity, and the ten most common causes of death in the UK, the researchers found that patients who developed breast cancer were 40% less likely to die if they had high cholesterol than if they did not.
Dr Potluri said:
"Compared to those without high cholesterol, patients with high
cholesterol had a 45% reduced risk of breast cancer, and if they did develop
breast cancer, a 40% reduced chance of death. If a diagnosis of high
cholesterol leads to lower breast cancer rates this must either relate to
something inherent in the condition or affected patients, or more likely, to
treatment with widely used cholesterol lowering interventions such as
statins."
Dr Paul Carter, lead
author of this study and researcher at the ACALM Study Unit, said: "Our
research confirms that women with a diagnosis of high cholesterol have
strikingly lower rates of breast cancer with improved death rates and survival.
Building on previous research by us and other groups, including animal studies
in which statins reduced the risk of breast cancer, this gives a strong
indication that statins produce this protective effect in breast cancer."
"Statins have
some of the best mortality evidence amongst all cardiovascular medications and
their use in patients with a diagnosis of high cholesterol is likely the reason
this diagnosis appears to be protective against the development of breast
cancer and subsequent mortality," continued Dr Carter.
He added: "The results of this study provide the strongest justification to date for a clinical trial evaluating the protective effect of statins in patients with breast cancer, and this is what we intend to do."
Dr Carter concluded:
"Patients with breast cancer who have high cholesterol, people at high
risk of cardiovascular disease, and those with established cardiovascular
disease should be given statins according to current guidelines. I don't think
at the moment we can give statins to prevent or reduce mortality from breast
cancer per se. But a positive result in a clinical trial could change this and
it is an exciting and rapidly progressing field."