Do statins improve the survival time after esophagectomy? —a propensity score matching study

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of statins (HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors) on the prognosis of patients undergoing esophagectomy in a high incidence area. METHODS: This study retrospectively analyzed the database of patients underwent esophagectomy in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University. Preoperative application of statins for more than one year as the grouping factor. A propensity score matching (PSM) analyses was conducted to reduce heterogeneity and increase the comparability of the two groups, then compared the survival time of the matched groups through the Kaplan-Meier method. All P values were 2-sided and P<0.05 was statistically significant. RESULTS: 738 of 1,378 esophageal cancer patients with complete medical records (including 27 statins users) were selected in the study. Variables of the two matched groups in the male (sex), age, type II diabetes, cardiovascular comorbidity, differentiation of tumor and staging of tumor were no statistical difference after PSM. After 40 months of follow-up, there is no difference between the two groups regarding overall survival with P values of Breslow test (P=0.816). CONCLUSIONS: Statins use do not improve the survival time of patients after esophagectomy in a high incidence area of China.