Oral Presentation
Cancer
Oliver W. Scott, BHSc (first class hons)
PhD student
University of Auckland
Wanaka, Otago, New Zealand
Sandar TinTin, PhD
Senior Research Fellow
University of Auckland
Auckland, Auckland, United States
Sixten Harborg, PhD/MD student
PhD student
Aarhus University, Denmark
Marion Kuper-Hommel, MD, FRACP, PhD
Oncologist
Waikato District Health Board, New Zealand
Ross Lawrenson, MD
Professor in Population Health
University of Waikato, New Zealand
Mark Elwood, MD
Professor of Cancer Epidemiology
University of Auckland
Auckland, Auckland, United States
Statins are the most widely prescribed cholesterol lowering medications and have been associated with both improved and unchanged breast cancer outcomes in previous studies. This study examines the association between the post-diagnostic use of statins and breast cancer outcomes (death and recurrence) in a large, representative sample of New Zealand (NZ) women with breast cancer.
Methods
Women diagnosed with a first primary breast cancer between 2007 and 2016 were identified from four population-based regional NZ breast cancer registries and linked to national pharmaceutical data, hospital discharges, and death records. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate the hazard of breast cancer-specific death (BCD) associated with any post-diagnostic statin use.
Results
Of the 14,976 women included in analyses, 27% used a statin after diagnosis and the median follow up time was 4.51 years. Statin use (vs non-use) was associated with a statistically significant decreased risk of BCD (adjusted hazard ratio: 0.74; 0.63-0.86). The association was attenuated when considering a subgroup of ‘new’ statin users (HR: 0.91; 0.69-1.19), however other analyses revealed that the protective effect of statins was more pronounced in estrogen receptor positive patients (HR: 0.77; 0.63-0.94), postmenopausal women (HR: 0.74; 0.63-0.88), and in women with advanced stage disease (HR: 0.65; 0.49-0.84).
Conclusion
In this study, statin use was associated with a statistically significant decreased risk of breast cancer death, with subgroup analyses revealing a more protective effect in ER+ patients, postmenopausal women, and in women with advanced stage disease. Further research is warranted to determine if these associations are replicated in other clinical settings.