Statins could halve risk of death from breast cancer

TAKING statins can nearly halve the chances of death from breast cancer, a major new study suggests.

Scientists have said the ubiquitous cholesterol-lowering drug could become standard treatment against the disease, after certain types appeared to reduce mortality by 43 per cent.

Around six million people in Britain are regularly prescribed statins, principally to lower the levels of “bad” cho- lesterol in the arteries and to reduce the risk of death from cardiovascular disease or stroke.

An analysis of seven previous studies found a significant link between the drugs and improved mortality. Previous research has found that some tumours can produce a molecule made from cholesterol, which mimics oestrogen and encourages tumours to grow.

Roughly one in eight women develops breast cancer during their lifetime, according to Cancer Research UK, with 86 per cent of patients surviving for five years after a diagnosis.

Baroness Morgan, chief executive of Breast Cancer Now, said: “To stop people dying from the disease, we need to block all of breast cancer’s escape routes, and some statins could yet prove a valuable addition to existing treatments to help do this.”

Researchers from the National Cancer Centre in Beijing believe statins could be aiding conventional cancer drugs by making it easier to penetrate the membrane of cancer cells, as well as boosting the immune system.

The research, presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago, found that across all 197,048 women, statins reduced risk of death from breast cancer by 27 per cent and from death by any cause by 28 per cent. However, closer analysis showed that the best benefit came from lipophilic statins, which reduced the risk of breast cancer by 43 per cent.