Statins, already used to treat high cholesterol in patients, may also dramatically reduce the risk of death in patients with breast cancer. A new study, presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago this week, has found that the commonly used drug may cut the death rate by up to 38 percent.
The work has been carried out by scientists in China, and is a meta-analysis of seven other studies, coming to the conclusion that using lipophilic statins seemed to offer a protection to people suffering from breast cancer. It comes after many other studies have observed this link before, and has prompted fresh calls for clinical trials to investigate whether or not they could be used to improve the rates of breast cancer survival.
The analysis found that taking the statins after being diagnosed with breast cancer cut the risk of death from cancer and all other causes of death by an impressive 38 percent. Interestingly, however, this was only true for those who were taking them for under four years. After this cut-off period, the protective ability of the drug fell, and cut the death rate by a much lower 16 percent.