title: Statin use and fatal prostate cancer: a matched case-control study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Statins are some of the most commonly prescribed medications in medical practice, and prostate cancer is the most common malignancy among men. Although there has been no consistent evidence that statins affect cancer incidence, including prostate cancer, several reports suggest they may decrease the rate of advanced prostate cancer. However, no study to date has specifically examined statin use and prostate cancer mortality. The authors conducted this population-based case-control investigation to examine this association.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a matched case-control study. Cases were residents of New Jersey ages 55 to 79 years who died from prostate cancer between 1997 and 2000. The cases were matched individually to population-based controls by 5-year age group and race. Medication data were obtained identically for cases and controls from blinded medical chart review. Conditional logistic regression was used to adjust for confounders.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In total, 718 cases were identified, and cooperation was obtained from 77% of their spouses (N = 553). After a review of medical records, 387 men were eligible, and 380 were matched to a control. The unadjusted odds ratio was 0.49 (95% confidence interval, 0.34-0.70) and decreased to 0.37 (P < .0001) after adjusting for education, waist size, body mass index, comorbidities, and antihypertensive medication. There was little difference between lipophilic and hydrophilic statins, but more risk reduction was noted for high-potency statins (73%; P < .0001) compared with low-potency statins (31%; P = .32).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Statin use was associated with substantial protection against prostate cancer death, adding to the epidemiologic evidence for an inhibitory effect on prostate cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA. marcelsw@umdnj.edu
authors.forename: Stephen W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Marcella
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: David
authors.forename: Pamela A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Ohman-Strickland
authors.forename: Jeffery
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Carson
authors.forename: George G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Rhoads
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005006:Ethnicity; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality*; D012306:Risk
chemical_list: D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors