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Statin Use Associated With Lower HCC Risk
The risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was reduced by 41.0% among patients with chronic kidney disease and hepatitis B (HBV) or C (HCV) who received statin therapy, researchers reported.
Patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) have an elevated risk of developing HCC, according to the investigators. The possible chemopreventive effect of statins has not been studied among these patients prior to this research.
The study team evaluated 6165 patients undergoing dialysis who had HBV or HCV, drawn from a Korean national health database. They compared the incidence of HCC diagnosis among patients who were prescribed 28 or more cumulative daily doses of a statin during the first 3 months of daily dialysis to the rate of HCC among nonusers of statins.
“During a median follow-up of 2.8 years, HCC occurred in 114 (3.2%) statin non-users and 33 (1.2%) statin users. The HCC risk was 41% lower in statin users than in non-users (sub-distribution hazard ratio, 0.59; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.42–0.81),” the researchers reported. “The weighted incidence rate of HCC was lower in statin users than in statin non-users (incidence rate difference, − 3.7; 95% CI − 5.7 to − 1.7; P < 0.001). Incidence rate ratio (IRR) was also consistent with other analyses (IRR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.41 to 0.78; P < 0.001).”
Statin use was associated with a lower risk of incident HCC among patients with chronic hepatitis B or C infection who were receiving dialysis, they concluded.
—Rebecca Mashaw
Reference:
Kim H, Joo Y, Kang S. et al. Association of statin treatment with hepatocellular carcinoma risk in end-stage kidney disease patients with chronic viral hepatitis. Sci Rep. 2022;12(1):10807
