Effect of statins use on risk and prognosis of breast cancer: a meta-analysis

The findings regarding the association between statins use and breast cancer are inconsistent. Given the widely and long-term use of statins as first choice drug for dyslipidemia, we conducted this meta-analysis for better understanding the associations between statins use and the risk and prognosis of breast cancer. Articles regarding effect of statins use on risk, prognosis of breast cancer and published before January 2021 were searched in the following databases: Web of Science, PubMed, EMBASE, Medline and Google Scholar. Odds ratios (ORs)/relative risks (RRs) or hazard ratios (HRs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were computed to generate a pooled effect size and 95% CI. The meta-analysis showed no significant association between statins use and risk of breast cancer (OR/RR = 1.02; 95% CI, 0.97-1.08; I2 = 76.1%; P < 0.001). The meta-analysis showed that statins use was associated with lower breast cancer recurrence, all-cause mortality and disease-specific mortality (breast cancer recurrence: HR = 0.75; 95% CI, 0.67-0.84; I2 = 31.7%; P = 0.154; all-cause mortality: HR = 0.82; 95% CI, 0.77-0.89; I2 = 67.5%; P < 0.001; and disease-specific mortality: HR = 0.82; 95% CI, 0.72-0.93; I2 = 83.6%; P < 0.001). Overall, in this report we demonstrated that the use of statins can improve the prognosis of breast cancer patients including lower risks of breast cancer recurrence, all-cause and cancer-specific mortality, though statins therapy may not have an impact on reducing the risk of breast cancer.