The Influence of Statin Use on Chemotherapeutic Efficacy in Studies of Mouse Models: A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND/AIM: Using statins as antitumor agents is an approach to cancer therapy that has been explored extensively in specific cancer types. Reframing the query to how a statin interacts with the treatment regimen instead might provide new insight. Given that cell-cycle regulation influences tumorigenesis, it is possible that the cell-cycle phase which a given chemotherapy acts on influences the synergistic effects with adjuvant statin use. In this review, we outline the effect of statins in combination with chemotherapeutic drugs in in vivo animal model studies based on the class of chemotherapy and its relation to the cell cycle. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This systematic review was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses for Protocols 2015 with 23 articles deemed eligible to be included. RESULTS: Our review suggests that statins influence the success of chemotherapy treatments. Furthermore, enhanced efficacy was demonstrated with chemotherapeutic drugs that act at every phase of the cell cycle. CONCLUSION: This type of compilation departs from the norm of describing statin influence on named cancer subtypes and instead catalogs how statins interact with categorical chemotherapy agents which might be beneficial for broader therapeutic decision-making across cancer subtypes, possibly contributing to pharmaceutical development, and thereby helping to maximize patient outcomes.