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Drug Insight: statins and gastrointestinal cancer

Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology & Hepatology volume 3, pages 552–562 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Statins are popular lipid-lowering drugs that have had a great impact on the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases. Basic and clinical research have also revealed that statins have biologic activities that go beyond lipid lowering, and suggest that they might have other therapeutic benefits. Perhaps the most exciting of these additional biologic effects is the finding that statins can exert an anticancer effect on cultured cancer cells, and in animal models. Clinical studies of statins for the treatment and prevention of cancer have, however, produced conflicting results. This review critically evaluates the current body of literature on the role of statins in the treatment and prevention of gastrointestinal cancers, with particular focus on clinical and observational studies.

Key Points

  • Statins are widely-used lipid-lowering agents with a well-defined role in the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases

  • Basic and clinical research suggest that statins might have a role in the treatment and prevention of gastrointestinal cancers

  • Existing clinical data on the use of statins for the treatment of gastrointestinal cancers are discouraging

  • Analyses of cancer incidence in previous, short-term randomized controlled trials of statins for primary cardiovascular endpoints are not well suited to address the role of statins in cancer chemoprevention

  • Observational data on statins in the chemoprevention of gastrointestinal cancers are encouraging but far from conclusive

  • At this point in time, statins cannot be recommended for the purpose of cancer prevention

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Figure 1: Mechanism of statin action in cancer prevention.
Figure 2: Summary of studies of chemoprevention with statins.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine,

    Taft P Bhuket & Peter DR Higgins

  2. Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Taft P Bhuket & Peter DR Higgins

Authors
  1. Taft P Bhuket
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  2. Peter DR Higgins
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter DR Higgins.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Bhuket, T., Higgins, P. Drug Insight: statins and gastrointestinal cancer. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 3, 552–562 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpgasthep0603

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpgasthep0603

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