Statins have been in the prostate cancer news feeds for a long time. They are believed to potentiate the effects of the anti-hormonal agents used to treat metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Different stages of prostate cancer as well as different treatment exposures might change the efficacy of statins.
Researchers performed a retrospective multicenter study that included men who had taken either abiraterone (Zytiga) or enzalutamide (Xtandi) after also having taken docetaxel (chemotherapy) for mCRPC. They evaluated the effect of taking statins concurrently on the men’s prostate-specific antigen (PSA) declines (> 30%), cancer-specific survival and overall survival (OS).
The research included five hundred and ninety-eight. A total of 199 men (33.3%) received statins while also receiving abiraterone or enzalutamide treatment. Median OS was 20.8 months for men who received statins, versus 12.9 months for the men who did not receive statins. After adjusting for age, alkaline phosphatase, PSA, neutrophil-to-lymphocytes ratio, Charlson comorbidity score, Gleason score, visceral disease, hemoglobin, opiate use and abiraterone versus enzalutamide treatment statin use was associated with a 53% reduction in the overall risk of death
In this retrospective cohort, statin use was significantly associated with both prolonged OS and cancer-specific survival and increased early > 30% PSA declines.
Oncotarget. 2018 Apr 13*** epublish **
PubMed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29731989
Joel T. Nowak, MA, MSW wrote this Post. Joel is the CEO/Executive Director of Cancer ABCs. He is a Cancer Thriver diagnosed with five primary cancers - Thyroid, Metastatic Prostate, Renal, Melanoma, and the rare cancer Appendiceal cancer.
