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Statin Therapy Appears to Lengthen Survival in Patients With Epithelial Ovarian Cancer: Presented at SGO

By Ed Susman

TAMPA, Fla -- March 12, 2008 -- Patients with ovarian cancer who were treated with statin therapy prior to surgery appeared to have significantly extended progression-free survival and overall survival in a retrospective, single-institution study presented here at the Society of Gynaecologic Oncologists (SGO) 2008 Annual Meeting on Women's Cancer.

"Statin use is associated with improved survival," said R. Geoffrey Elmore, MD, Researcher in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, Los Angeles, California.

If a woman was being treated with statins for reasons unrelated to her cancer, her risk of disease progression decreased by 55% (P = .02) compared with women who were not on statin therapy prior to surgery, Dr. Elmore said in his plenary address on March 11.

Dr. Elmore and colleagues analysed hospital records between 1996 and 2001 to identify women who had been diagnosed with advanced-stage epithelial ovarian or primary peritoneal cancer, who subsequently underwent primary cytoreductive surgery by a gynaecologic oncologist, and who received postsurgical platinum-taxane chemotherapy.

A total of 126 women were included in the study -- 109 who were not on statins and 17 women who were taking statins. Dr. Elmore noted that studies have been inconsistent regarding the impact of statins on cancer occurrence. His paper discussed the impact of statins on cancer treatment outcomes, he said.

About 19% of people at risk for cardiovascular diseases primarily associated with high levels of lipids take statins to lower cholesterol levels. In his study, about 13.5% of the study cohort had been taking statins.

Average time to disease progression for patients not on statins was 16 months after surgery compared with 24 months for patients who were on statins. That difference of 8 months was statistically significant (P = .007), he said.

Overall survival for patients who were taking statins was 62 months compared with 46 months for women who were not on statins at the time of surgery. That difference of 16 months also reached statistical significance (P = .04).

"This is the first study to suggest that statins have an impact on survival among women with epithelial ovarian cancer biology," Dr. Elmore said. He said the mechanisms by which statins impact outcomes in ovarian cancer remain under study.


[Presentation title: Impact of Statin Therapy on Outcome in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer. Abstract 39]

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