Taking statins after being diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer raises the survival rate by 58 per cent, a study has found.
Researchers have found a ‘significant association’ between taking the common cholesterol-lowering drugs and survival rates of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).
TNBC makes up 10 to 20 per cent of breast cancer diagnoses, with about 8,000 patients found to have it in the UK each year.
It has a poor prognosis and limited treatment options.
Researchers have found a ‘significant association’ between taking the common cholesterol-lowering drugs and survival rates of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)
A team from Texas University analysed data on more than 23,000 women over the age of 66 with TNBC. Some 2,281 had been taking statins within a year of their diagnosis.
The results, published in the journal Cancer, found this group were 58 per cent more likely to be alive three years later.
Lab experiments have shown statins stop cancer cells growing and dividing, and boost the immune system.
Lead author Dr Kevin Nead said: ‘There is already a body of literature on statins and breast cancer and the results have been inconsistent.
‘Previous research has looked at breast cancer as only one disease, but we know there are many subtypes of breast cancer.
‘We wanted to focus our research on this particularly aggressive form of breast cancer that has limited effective treatment options.’
TNBC makes up 10 to 20 per cent of breast cancer diagnoses, with about 8,000 patients found to have it in the UK each year
Statins, which cost only a few pence each, are used by six million Britons to reduce the risk of heart disease.
They could have an important impact on outcomes for women with triple negative breast cancer, said Dr Nead.
‘We know statins decrease breast cancer cell division and increase cell death,’ he added.
‘Our study shows there is an association between statins and improved outcomes in triple negative breast cancer, and it is time to pursue this idea further in a prospective trial.’
TNBC claims the lives of around 1,650 women in Britain every year – the equivalent of one in ten breast cancer deaths.
