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Statin use and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma

  • PHARMACO-EPIDEMIOLOGY
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Abstract

The objective of this study was to explore the association between statins use and risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We used the research database of the Taiwan National Health Insurance program to conduct a population-based case–control study. Cases were 3,480 patients with newly diagnosed HCC identified during 2000 and 2009. Controls were 13,920 subjects without HCC and frequency matched for age, sex and duration of observational period of cases (i.e., the duration between year of being enrolled in the insurance program and index year of cases). Six commercially available statins, including simvastatin, lovastatin, fluvastatin, atorvastatin, pravastatin, and rosuvastatin, were analyzed. The adjusted odds ratio [OR] of HCC was 0.72 [95 % (CI) 0.59–0.88] for the group with stains use, when compared to the group with non-use of statins. In sub-analysis, simvastatin (OR 0.69, 95 % CI 0.50–0.94), lovastatin (OR 0.52, 95 % CI 0.36–0.76) and atorvastatin (OR 0.70, 95 % CI 0.53–0.93) were associated with significant reduction in odds of HCC. Statins use correlates with 28 % decreased risk of HCC. Individual statins, including simvastatin, lovastatin and atorvastatin, are associated with reduced risk of HCC.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the National Health Research Institute in Taiwan for providing the insurance claims data. This study was supported in part by Taiwan Department of Health Clinical Trial and Research Center of Excellence (DOH102-TD-B-111-004).The funding agency did not influence the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Conflict of interest

The authors disclose no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan

    Shih-Wei Lai

  2. Department of Family Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan

    Shih-Wei Lai

  3. Institute of Integrated Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan

    Kuan-Fu Liao

  4. Department of Internal Medicine, Taichung Tzu Chi General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan

    Kuan-Fu Liao

  5. Department of Health Care Administration, Central Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taichung, Taiwan

    Kuan-Fu Liao

  6. School of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan

    Hsueh-Chou Lai

  7. Department of Internal Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan

    Hsueh-Chou Lai

  8. Department of Public Health, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan

    Chih-Hsin Muo & Fung-Chang Sung

  9. Management Office for Health Data, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan

    Chih-Hsin Muo & Fung-Chang Sung

  10. Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, No. 17 Xu-Zhou Road, Taipei, 10020, Taiwan

    Pei-Chun Chen

Authors
  1. Shih-Wei Lai
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  2. Kuan-Fu Liao
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  3. Hsueh-Chou Lai
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  4. Chih-Hsin Muo
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  5. Fung-Chang Sung
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  6. Pei-Chun Chen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pei-Chun Chen.

Additional information

Shih-Wei Lai and Kuan-Fu Liao contributed equally to this study.

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Lai, SW., Liao, KF., Lai, HC. et al. Statin use and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma. Eur J Epidemiol 28, 485–492 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-013-9806-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-013-9806-y

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