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Cancer Causes & Control
Published in: Cancer Causes & Control 7/2012

01-07-2012 | Original paper

Statin use and risk of pancreatic cancer: a meta-analysis

Authors: Xiaobing Cui, Yue Xie, Min Chen, Jun Li, Xiaoming Liao, Jian Shen, Meng Shi, Wenjing Li, Haoxuan Zheng, Bo Jiang

Published in: Cancer Causes & Control | Issue 7/2012

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Abstract

Purpose

Statins are commonly prescribed medications that potently reduce cholesterol levels and the risk of cardiovascular events. Preclinical studies suggested statins also possess cancer chemopreventive properties. However, the clinical studies provided contradictory results as to whether statins influence the risk of pancreatic cancer. Herein, we present this meta-analysis to assess the association between statin use and risk of pancreatic cancer.

Methods

We conducted a comprehensive search up to August 2011 for the eligible studies. Pooled relative risk (RR) estimates and corresponding 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using the inverse-variance-weighted random-effects model. Subgroup analyses were conducted where data were available. Heterogeneity was assessed by the Cochran’s Q test and the I 2 statistic.

Results

We included 16 studies that involving 1,692,863 participants and 7,807 pancreatic cancer cases. Pooled results only indicated a non-significant decrease of pancreatic cancer risk among all statin users (RR 0.89; 95 % CIs, 0.74–1.07). Similar results were obtained in the subgroup analyses of the long-term (more than 4 years) follow-up (RR 0.94, 0.81–1.08) and statin use (RR 0.97, 0.76–1.23), and a null association was found between lipophilic statin use and pancreatic cancer risk (RR 1.03, 0.92–1.16). No evidence of publication bias was observed in the present meta-analysis. However, significant heterogeneity was detected among all studies (p < 0.00001, I 2 = 81 %).

Conclusions

In conclusion, our results suggest that there is no association between statin use and pancreatic cancer risk, when statins are taken at daily doses for cardiovascular event prevention.
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Metadata
Title
Statin use and risk of pancreatic cancer: a meta-analysis
Authors
Xiaobing Cui
Yue Xie
Min Chen
Jun Li
Xiaoming Liao
Jian Shen
Meng Shi
Wenjing Li
Haoxuan Zheng
Bo Jiang
Publication date
01-07-2012
Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Published in
Cancer Causes & Control / Issue 7/2012
Print ISSN: 0957-5243
Electronic ISSN: 1573-7225
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-012-9979-9

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