Statins ‘can stop breast tumours returning’

BREAST cancer sufferers who take statins can cut the chances of a tumour in their other breast by 12 per cent, scientists have claimed.

The cheap medication, which has been linked to other health benefits, is taken by millions of Britons to lower cholesterol.

Researchers identified 52,000 women who suffered nonmetastatic breast cancer between 1996 and 2012.

More than 5,000 were statin users, some for many years.

The research team found that statin use was linked to a 12 per cent lower risk of developing contralateral breast cancer – a tumour in the opposite breast.

An even stronger association was found among women who had used statins for five years or more, according to findings by the Danish Cancer Society.

Baroness Delyth Morgan, head of Breast Cancer Now, said: ‘This important study adds to existing evidence that statins may have significant benefits in treating breast cancer for some women – in this case in helping reduce the risk of the disease returning in the other breast.’

A separate Canadian study showed taking a drug for osteoporosis called denosumab led to a 13 per cent decreased risk of breast cancer.