Statins Cut Risk for Kidney Cancer Progression

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Renal Cell Carcinoma Patient with Liver Mets
By: Paul Bowlin, MD; E. David Crawford, MDA 72-year-old male presents with fatigue and shortness of breath. On initial laboratory evaluation, he is found to have a hematocrit level of 55%. His past medical history is significant for hypertension, hyperlipidemia,…

(HealthDay News) — Use of statins is associated with a reduced risk of progression of localized renal cell carcinoma (RCC), according to research published in the April issue of The Journal of Urology.

In an effort to assess the effect of statin medications on the progression of the neoplasm, Robert J. Hamilton, MD, MP., of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, and colleagues analyzed data for 2,608 patients receiving surgical treatment for localized RCC.

The researchers found that 27% of the patients undergoing surgery for localized RCC were statin users. At a median follow-up of 36 months, statin use was associated with a significant reduction in the risk of progression of localized RCC following surgery (hazard ratio [HR], 0.67; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.47 to 0.96; P = 0.028) and a nonsignificant reduction in overall mortality (HR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.71 to 1.13; P = 0.3).

When statin use was modeled as a time-dependent covariate, the reduction in risk of progression of disease was decreased (HR, 0.77; P = 0.12) and the reduction in risk of overall mortality was increased (HR, 0.71; P = 0.002).

“This is the first study to directly examine the association between statin use at surgery and progression to metastasis or renal cell carcinoma death,” the researchers wrote.