Statins, commonly used to lower cholesterol, may significantly reduce the risk of liver cancer in patients with chronic liver disease, a new study suggests.
Researchers found that statin use decreased the risk for hepatocellular carcinoma, which accounts for most primary liver cancers. The disease ranks eighth in causing death from cancer in the UK.
The findings, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, also showed statins reduced the risk of hepatic decompensation, an advanced stage of liver disease. Fat-soluble statins showed the greatest benefits for liver cancer prevention.
The historical cohort study included 16,501 participants, of whom 3,610 were statin users. Data was collected from hospitals within the Mass General Brigham health care system.
Liver cancer ranks eighth in causing death from cancer in the UK
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Participants were over 40 years of age with chronic liver disease diagnosed between July 2000 and June 2023.
Researchers excluded those with previous liver transplants or hepatocellular carcinoma. They also excluded participants with a Fibrosis-4 score lower than 1.3, which indicates the degree of liver fibrosis.
Participants were considered statin users only if they began taking the medication at least 180 days after their chronic liver disease diagnosis.
Non-users were defined as those whose cumulative defined daily dose was less than 30.
During the study, researchers documented 755 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma and 2,011 cases of hepatic decompensation.
The 10-year cumulative incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma was eight per cent in non-users compared to just 3.8 per cent in statin users.
After multivariable adjustment, statin users had a 33 per cent lower risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma than non-users.
Similarly, the 10-year cumulative incidence of severe liver complications was 19.5 per cent in non-users versus 10.6 per cent in statin users.
This translated to a 22 per cent lower risk of severe liver complications for those taking statins.
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Lipophilic statins showed the greatest benefits for liver cancer prevention
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Lipophilic (fat-soluble) statins like atorvastatin and simvastatin showed the greatest benefits for liver cancer prevention.
Dr Jossef Amirian, a board certified cardiologist with Manhattan Cardiology in NYC who was not involved in the study, said: "Statins, which are generally used to help lower cholesterol levels and mitigate the risk of MACE in patients, can also play other roles in the body."
He noted that lipophilic statins "may help to slow down the progression of fibrosis, thus in a subset of patients may then help to mitigate the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma".
The study found that patients with the longest duration of statin use experienced the lowest rates of both liver cancer and severe liver complications.
Even those with shorter periods of statin use showed better outcomes compared to non-users.
