Use of statins and risk of glioma: a nationwide case-control study in Denmark

Laboratory studies and a single case-control study have suggested a protective effect of statins on the risk of glioma. We wished to investigate the influence of statin use on the risk of glioma in a population-based setting.

We conducted a nationwide case-control study in Denmark based on population-based medical registries. We identified all patients aged 20 to 85 years with a first diagnosis of histologically verified glioma during 2000-2009. These cases were matched on birth year and sex with population controls. Prior use of statins since 1995 was classified into short-term use (<5 years) and long-term use (5+ years). We used conditional logistic regression to compute odds ratios (ORs), with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), for glioma associated with statin use, adjusted for potential confounders.

A total of 2656 cases and 18,480 controls were included in the study. The risk of glioma was reduced among long-term statin users (OR=0.76; 95% CI: 0.59-0.98) compared with never users of statins, and was inversely related to the intensity of statin treatment among users (OR=0.71; 95% CI: 0.44-1.15 for highest intensity). The inverse association between long-term statin treatment and glioma risk was more pronounced among men aged ≤ 60 years (OR=0.40; 95% CI: 0.17-0.91) compared with men aged 60+ years (OR=0.71; 95% CI: 0.49-1.03). An inverse association was also observed among women aged ≤ 60 years (OR=0.28; 95% CI: 0.06-1.25), but not among women over age 60 years (OR=1.23; 95% CI: 0.82-1.85).

Long-term statin use may reduce the risk of glioma.