Statin use and the risk of female lung cancer: a population-based case-control study

The aim of this study was to investigate whether the use of statins was associated with lung cancer risk. We conducted a population-based case-control study in Taiwan. Data were retrospectively collected from the Taiwan National health Insurance Research Database. Cases consisted of all female patients who were aged 50 years and older and had a first-time diagnosis of lung cancer for the period between 2005 and 2008. We identified four control patients per case patient. The controls were matched to cases by age, sex, and index date. Adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated by using multiple logistic regression. We examined 297 female lung cancer cases and 1188 controls. The unadjusted odds ratios (ORs) for any statin prescription were 0.78 (95% confidence interval=0.57-1.07) and the adjusted OR was 0.82 (95% CI=0.58-1.15). Compared with no use of statins, the adjusted ORs were 0.83 (95% CI=0.54-1.28) for the group having been prescribed statins with cumulative defined daily dose (DDDs) below 92.41 and 0.79 (95% CI=0.50-1.25) for the group with cumulative statin use of 92.41 DDDs or more. The present data do not provide support for a beneficial association between statin use and female lung cancer risk.