Statins and prostate cancer recurrence following radical prostatectomy or radiotherapy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
BACKGROUND
In this meta-analysis, we evaluated associations between statins and recurrence-free survival (RFS) following treatment of localized prostate cancer, with attention to potential benefits among patients treated primarily with radiotherapy (RT) versus radical prostatectomy.


PATIENTS AND METHODS
We identified original studies examining the effect of statins on men who received definitive treatment of localized prostate cancer using a systematic search of the PubMed and EMBASE databases through August 2012. Our search yielded 17 eligible studies from 794 references; 13 studies with hazard ratios (HRs) for RFS were included in the formal meta-analysis.


RESULTS
Overall, statins did not affect RFS (HR 0.90, 95% CI 0.74-1.08). However, in RT patients (six studies), statins were associated with a statistically significant improvement in RFS (HR 0.68; 95% CI 0.49-0.93); this benefit was not observed in radical prostatectomy patients (seven studies). Sensitivity analyses suggested that primary treatment modality may impact the effect of statins on prostate cancer recurrence.


CONCLUSIONS
Our meta-analysis suggests a potentially beneficial effect of statins on prostate cancer patients treated with RT but not among radical prostatectomy patients. Although limited by the lack of randomized data, these results suggest that primary treatment modality should be considered in future studies examining associations between statins and oncologic outcomes.
['Park|H S|HS|', 'Schoenfeld|J D|JD|', 'Mailhot|R B|RB|', 'Shive|M|M|', 'Hartman|R I|RI|', 'Ogembo|R|R|', 'Mucci|L A|LA|']
D006801:Humans D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors D008297:Male D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local D011468:Prostatectomy D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms
statin prostate cancer recurrence radical prostatectomy radiotherapy meta-analysis