title: Statin use after colorectal cancer diagnosis and survival: a population-based cohort study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether statins used after colorectal cancer diagnosis reduce the risk of colorectal cancer-specific mortality in a cohort of patients with colorectal cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cohort of 7,657 patients with newly diagnosed stage I to III colorectal cancer were identified from 1998 to 2009 from the National Cancer Data Repository (comprising English cancer registry data). This cohort was linked to the United Kingdom Clinical Practice Research Datalink, which provided prescription records, and to mortality data from the Office of National Statistics (up to 2012) to identify 1,647 colorectal cancer-specific deaths. Time-dependent Cox regression models were used to calculate hazard ratios (HR) for cancer-specific mortality and 95% CIs by postdiagnostic statin use and to adjust these HRs for potential confounders.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, statin use after a diagnosis of colorectal cancer was associated with reduced colorectal cancer-specific mortality (fully adjusted HR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.61 to 0.84). A dose-response association was apparent; for example, a more marked reduction was apparent in colorectal cancer patients using statins for more than 1 year (adjusted HR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.79). A reduction in all-cause mortality was also apparent in statin users after colorectal cancer diagnosis (fully adjusted HR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.66 to 0.84).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this large population-based cohort, statin use after diagnosis of colorectal cancer was associated with longer rates of survival.
authors.affiliation: All authors: Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom. c.cardwell@qub.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Chris R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Cardwell
authors.affiliation: All authors: Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Blanaid M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Hicks
authors.affiliation: All authors: Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Carmel
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.affiliation: All authors: Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Liam J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Murray
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012042:Registries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015996:Survival Rate / Q000639:trends; D013997:Time Factors; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors