Statin Use May Reduce Mortality in High-Risk Prostate Cancer

[Balsam01]

FRIDAY, Feb. 28, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Statin use alone or in combination with metformin is associated with lower all-cause and prostate cancer (PCa) mortality among high-risk patients, according to a study published online Feb. 8 in Cancer Medicine.

Xiang-Lin Tan, M.D., Ph.D., from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, in New Brunswick, and colleagues used Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare linked data to quantify the individual and joint effects of statin and metformin use among 12,700 patients with high-risk PCa.

The researchers found that statin use alone or in combination with metformin was significantly associated with reduced all-cause mortality (hazard ratios, 0.89 and 0.75, respectively) and PCa mortality (hazard ratios, 0.80 and 0.64, respectively). In postdiagnosis users, the effect was greater with combination use of metformin/statins, with a 32 percent reduction in all-cause mortality and a 54 percent reduction in PCa mortality. There were no significant associations between metformin use alone and either all-cause mortality or PCa mortality. All brands of statins, except lovastatin, were significantly associated with the reduction in PCa mortality.

"[The] combination of metformin and statin holds great promise for reducing all-cause or PCa mortality among patients with high-risk PCa, particularly in postdiagnostic settings," the authors write.

link to full article: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi...

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News · March 02, 2020

[noahware]

Thanks for posting this.

I know there are other posts about this, but is there any consensus here about WHICH statin(s) might do best for those with PC? Are lower doses thought to be of help, or is higher dose needed in order to see potential benefits?

[Balsam01 in reply to noahware]

the particular statins are discussed in the link.

[noahware in reply to Balsam01]

Yeah, it seems like the authors like atorvastatin... but also say "only lovastatin was not significantly associated with the reduction in PCa mortality. The effects of lipophilic vs hydrophilic and high vs low potency statins were not statistically different"

I would think lipophilic is the way to go. Just wondering if any forum members suggest something other than say, atorvastatin, and if so, why? (I'm also sure some would suggest NOT adding either statin or metformin to any PC treatment, unless either or both are already indicated for other conditions.)

[Hidden in reply to noahware]

I have GERD/reflux and take omeprazole, an acid reducer. Simvastatin completely negated the benefit of the omeprazole so I had to switch to atorvastatin. I managed to get my GP to reluctantly up the atorvastatin dose from 10 mg to 20 mg. I did so after reading of the benefit of statins for prostate cancer on this forum.

[6357axbz]

Does the study refer to specific dosages?

[tallguy2]

Thanks for posting this.

[SmpQuindio]

ANECDOTAL ONLY..... I am 60 yo...I had an open RT in March 2016. My post surgery pathology was Gleason 4+3; T3a; N0 M0. I recieved no further treatment subsequent to surgey. In March 2017, PSA reappeared and in each subsequent test (except for one) it continued to rise until it hit 0.461 in Jan. 2020. I am now in week 4 of salvage radiation therapy.

On November 6 2018 I suffered from a transitory cerebral ischemia. (I lost the ability to speak coherently for about an hour...although some may argue that I am rarely coherent). When I arrived at the ER my bp was about 180/130. I thought that I was in pretty decent shape..the night before I had run 4 miles.. and the morning of the stroke I had hiked 5 miles with the dogs...Since that date I have been taking...every single day.. losartan: amlodipine, aspirin and 40 mg daily of atorvastatina. I never miss a dose...and I am fine and back to normal health wise. I could stand to lose about 4 kilos..but not a major problem. Using the sloan kettering prostate cancer nonograms for PSA doubling time..my PSA.. pre Ischemia was doubling at a rate of 10.3 months or 0.9 years. Post ischemia and with a daily dose of atorvastatina my doubling time slowed to 22.1 months. I had not recieved any other treatment except for salvation radiation which began feb 10. Prior to the ischemia which occurred Nov 6,2018.. I had last been tested August 31,2018, in which my PSA was 0.295. The previous test on March 14. ,2018 was 0.21. On January 21, 2019, the first post ischemia PSA test reflected a small drop,,but at least not an increase, to 0.285. The oncologists have somewhat discarded the issue when I ask about it. Of course I draw no conclusions about it.. it is just my individual experience .. and the story is not over. I will continue to take my daily dose of statins and hope that that, along with my radiation a day they will keep the PSA away.