A team of researchers from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts have noticed that people who consume statin drugs to lower cholesterol could raise their risk of cancer. The team had done a meta-analysis, which means they looked at the records of 41,173 patients in 23 trials of statins.
They found that for every 1000 patients with the lowest levels of LDL (low-density lipoprotein, a.k.a. the bad cholesterol), there was one extra case of cancer as compared to those with higher LDL levels.
The analysis was based on records of patients who took popular statins such as Lipitor and Zocor but excluded newer statins such as Crestor (AstraZeneca Plc) and Vytorin (Merck/Schering-Plough Corp).
Source: Reuters Health, 24 July 2007; Medline Plus, 23 July 2007; Alawi A. et al “Effect of the Magnitude of Lipid Lowering on Risk of Elevated Liver Enzymes, Rhabdomyolysis, and Cancer” Journal of American College of Cardiology (2007) 50:409-418
Chapter: Cholesterol :: 16 August 2007
