Men with high-risk prostate cancer who take cholesterol-lowering statin drugs while receiving radiation therapy are less likely to have their cancer return than patients who do not take statins, according to a study published in the March issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics.
For the study, researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center included 1,681 men with high-risk, localized prostate cancer who were treated with radiation therapy between 1995 and 2007. Of the men, 382 (23%) were taking statin medication at diagnosis and throughout the treatment. Median follow-up time was approximately six years (Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys, March 2011, Vol. 79:3, pp. 713-718).
Lead author Dr. Michael Zelefsky and colleagues found that the men taking statins were less likely to relapse than other patients. At five years, 11% of men taking statins saw their cancer return, compared with 17% of patients not taking the medication. At eight years, 17% of men on statins had a relapse, compared with 26% of those not taking statins.
