Statins are Associated With a Reduced Risk of Brain Cancer: A Population-Based Case–Control Study

The aim of this study was to investigate whether statin utilization is associated with brain cancer risk. A population-based case–control study was conducted using nationally representative claims data from the National Health Insurance Bureau in Taiwan. Cases included all patients 50 years and older who received an index diagnosis of brain cancer between 2004 and 2011. Our controls were matched by age, sex, and index date. We estimated adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using multiple logistic regression. We examined 213 brain cancer cases and 852 controls. The unadjusted ORs for any statin prescription was 0.77 (95% CI = 0.50–1.18) and the adjusted OR was 0.59 (95% CI = 0.37–0.96). Compared with no use of statins, the adjusted ORs were 0.68 (95% CI = 0.38–1.24) for the group having been prescribed with statins with cumulative defined daily dose (DDD) below 144.67 DDDs and 0.50 (95% CI = 0.28–0.97) for the group with the cumulative statin use of 144.67 DDDs or more. The results of this study suggest that statins may reduce the risk of brain cancer.