The Effect of Statin Added to Systemic Anticancer Therapy: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized, Controlled Trials

Preclinical studies have demonstrated that statins have anticancer properties and act in an additive or synergistic way when combined with anticancer therapy. We conducted this meta-analysis of randomized, controlled phase II or III trials to evaluate the effect of statins added to systemic anticancer therapy in patients with solid cancer. A systematic literature search was performed to identify all randomized trials that were designed to investigate the effect of statins in patients with cancer using PubMed, EMBASE, Google Scholar, and Web of Science (up to August 2018). From eight randomized controlled trials, 1760 patients were included in the pooled analyses of odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for grade 3–5 adverse events (AEs) and overall response rate (ORR) and hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% CIs for progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). The addition of statin to anticancer agents did not significantly increase the incidence of grade 3–5 AEs (OR = 1.03, 95% CI: 0.81–1.29, p = 0.78). However, the combination of statin and anticancer agents did not improve ORR (OR = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.77–1.20, p = 0.72) compared with that of anticancer therapy alone. In addition, statins added to systemic anticancer therapy failed to prolong PFS (HR = 0.99, 95% CI: 0.90–1.10, p = 0.92) and OS (HR = 0.91, 95% CI: 0.76–1.11, p = 0.52). In conclusion, this meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials does not support clinical benefits of statins added to systemic anticancer therapy in patients with solid cancer.