title: De novo post-diagnosis statin use, breast cancer-specific and overall mortality in women with stage I-III breast cancer.
abstract: Prior evidence suggests a role for statins in the management of cancer. However, the benefit of statin use in the adjuvant setting remains uncertain. This study investigates associations between statin use initiated after a breast cancer diagnosis and mortality.
  
  
  
  Women with stage I-III breast cancer were identified from the National Cancer Registry of Ireland (N=4243). Post-diagnostic statin initiators were identified from pharmacy claims data (N=837). Multivariate models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for associations between de novo statin use and mortality.
  
  
  
  The median duration of statin use was 6.7 years. No association was found between post-diagnostic statin use and breast cancer-specific (HR 0.88, 95% CI 0.66, 1.17) or all-cause mortality (HR 1.00, 95% CI 0.82, 1.21).
  
  
  
  The results from our study suggest that initiating statin use after a diagnosis of stage I-III breast cancer is not associated with a reduction in breast cancer-specific mortality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, Trinity College, University of Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Amelia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, Trinity College, University of Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sharp
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Cellular Therapeutics, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Darran
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: O'Connor
authors.affiliation: Cancer Biology and Therapeutics, UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science, UCD Conway Institute, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: William M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Gallagher
authors.affiliation: RCSI Population and Health Sciences, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bennett
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, Trinity College, University of Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.|Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas I
authors.initials: TI
authors.lastname: Barron
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors