Association between statin use & risk of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: A systematic review & meta-analysis

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Statin use has been shown to be associated with a decreased risk of several types of cancer, however, the data on diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) are still inconclusive. This study aimed to systematically summarize all available data on this association and conduct a meta-analysis on the same. METHODS: A systematic review was performed using EMBASE and MEDLINE databases from inception upto October 2019 with a search strategy that included terms such as ‘statin’ and ‘DLBCL’. Eligible studies included either case–control or cohort studies that reported the association between statin use and the risk of DLBCL. Relative risk, odds ratio (OR), hazard: risk ratio or standardized incidence ratio of this association and standard error were extracted and combined for calculating the pooled effect estimate using random-effects, generic inverse variance method. RESULTS: A total of 1139 articles were screened. Of these six studies satisfied the inclusion criteria and were included for the meta-analysis. Statin use was associated with a significantly reduced risk of DLBCL with the pooled OR of 0.70 (95% confidence interval, 0.56-0.88; I(2)=70%). The funnel plot (fairly symmetric) was not suggestive of the presence of a publication bias. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSIONS: The present systematic review and meta-analysis found that statin use is associated with a 30 per cent reduced odds of DLBCL. However, the pooled analysis utilized data from observational studies so causation cannot be concluded upon. Hence, it suggested that randomized-controlled studies are still needed to confirm this potential benefit.