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Statins are associated with reduced risk of gastric cancer: A meta-analysis

  • Pharmacoepidemiology and Prescription
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Abstract

Background

Statins are widely prescribed to reduce cholesterol levels in the prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. However, the debate about the effect of statins on cancer risk remains unsettled. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of utilization of statins with the risk of gastric cancer by carrying out a meta-analysis.

Methods

A literature search was performed on PubMed and EMBASE up to March 2013 to identify the cohort or case–control studies or randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that examined the relationship between statins use and the risk of gastric cancer. The bibliographies of the retrieved articles were also reviewed to identify additional studies. A random-effects model was used to calculate the summary relative risks (RRs) with 95 % confidence intervals (CIs).

Results

Three post-hoc analyses of 26 RCTs involving 290 gastric cancers and eight observational studies totaling 7,321 gastric cancers were included. Statins use was shown to be significantly associated with a 27 % reduction in the risk of gastric cancer (RR = 0.73, 95 % CI = 0.58–0.93), with considerable heterogeneity among studies (I 2 = 88.9 %). Excluding one study in which all subjects are diabetic patients obtained an attenuated, but homogeneous result (RR = 0.85, 95 % CI = 0.80–0.91, I 2 = 0.0 %). These findings were consistent in the subgroup analysis.

Conclusion

A meta-analysis of existing evidence, primarily from observational studies, indicates that use of statins reduces the risk of gastric cancer.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of this project by the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province, China (Grant No. 2012Y0012) and the Medical Innovation Foundation of Fujian Province, China(Grant No. 2012-CX-2)

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology, Fujian Provincial Hospital, Fujian Provincial Clinical Medical College, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian, 350001, China

    Xiao-Dan Wu & Yan-Qing Chen

  2. Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian, 350001, China

    Kai Zeng

  3. Department of Oncology, Fujian Provincial Hospital, Fujian Provincial Clinical Medical College, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian, 350001, China

    Fang-Qin Xue

  4. Department of Statistics, Fuzhou General Hospital of Nanjing Military Region, Fuzhou, Fujian, 350001, China

    Jin-Hua Chen

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  1. Xiao-Dan Wu
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Correspondence to Yan-Qing Chen.

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Xiao-Dan Wu and Kai Zeng contributed equally to this work.

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Wu, XD., Zeng, K., Xue, FQ. et al. Statins are associated with reduced risk of gastric cancer: A meta-analysis. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 69, 1855–1860 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00228-013-1547-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00228-013-1547-z

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