SynthesisCMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne2007
Does pravastatin promote cancer in elderly patients? A meta-analysis.
Synthesis in CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 55 citations in OpenAlex.
- Intensified low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol target of statin therapy and cancer risk: a meta-analysis.Lipids in health and disease · 2015Pooled it
- Statins and the risk of colorectal cancer: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis of 40 studies.World journal of gastroenterology · 2014Pooled it
- Potential increased risk of cancer from commonly used medications: an umbrella review of meta-analyses.Annals of oncology : official journal of the European Society for Medical Oncology · 2014Pooled it
- Statin Effects on Aggression: Results from the UCSD Statin Study, a Randomized Control Trial.PloS one · 2015Trial
- 27-Hydroxycholesterol in cancer development and drug resistance.Journal of enzyme inhibition and medicinal chemistry · 2025Review
- Statins in the Cause and Prevention of Cancer: Confounding by Indication and Mediation by Rhabdomyolysis and Phosphate Toxicity.Journal of cardiovascular development and disease · 2024Review
- The Blocking of Drug Resistance Channels by Selected Hydrophobic Statins in Chemoresistance Human Melanoma.Biomolecules · 2023Article
- Comparison of Transcriptomic Profiles of MiaPaCa-2 Pancreatic Cancer Cells Treated with Different Statins.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Association between statin use and second cancer risk in breast cancer patients: a nationwide population-based cohort study.Breast cancer research and treatment · 2021Article
- Cancer risk in older people receiving statin therapy: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Journal of geriatric cardiology : JGC · 2016Article
- Article
- Statins: do they have a potential role in cancer prevention and modifying cancer-related outcomes?Drugs · 2014Review
- Statins and breast cancer prognosis: evidence and opportunities.The Lancet. Oncology · 2014Review
- Monitoring in clinical trials: benefit or bias?Theoretical medicine and bioethics · 2013Article
- Failure or success of electronic search strategies to identify adverse effects data.Journal of the Medical Library Association : JMLA · 2012Article
- Medically managed hypercholesterolemia and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus preoperatively predicts poor survival after surgery for pancreatic cancer.Journal of gastrointestinal surgery : official journal of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract · 2011Article
- Low LDL cholesterol, albuminuria, and statins for the risk of cancer in type 2 diabetes: the Hong Kong diabetes registry.Diabetes care · 2009Article
- Additive interaction between the renin-angiotensin system and lipid metabolism for cancer in type 2 diabetes.Diabetes · 2009Article
- Lipid-lowering therapy for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in the elderly: opportunities and challenges.Drugs & aging · 2009Review
- The evidence on trial: cholesterol lowering and cancer.Heart Asia · 2009Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAn increase in the incidence of cancer among elderly people assigned to pravastatin therapy has been reported in a randomized controlled trial; however, this finding has been attributed to chance. Our aim was to assess the effect of pravastatin therapy on cancer risk and to examine whether the effect varies according to age by performing a detailed meta-analysis and meta-regression analysis of randomized controlled trials.
methodsWe performed a comprehensive literature search for relevant studies published before February 2006. Before analysis, the selected studies were evaluated for publication bias and heterogeneity. Pooled relative risk estimates with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using fixed-and random-effects models. Meta-regression analysis was performed to examine the impact of age on the study estimates of the relative risk of cancer due to pravastatin therapy.
resultsTwelve trials that investigated the use of pravastatin therapy for cardiovascular outcomes were included in the analysis (n = 42 902). Although the overall association between pravastatin use and cancer was not statistically significant in the fixed-effects (risk ratio [RR] 1.06, 95% CI 0.99 - 1.13) or random-effects model (RR 1.06, 95% CI 0.97 - 1.14), the meta-regression analysis showed that the age of study participants significantly modified the effect of pravastatin therapy on cancer risk (p = 0.006). Specifically, this analysis showed that pravastatin therapy was associated with an increasing risk of cancer as age increased. This finding was remarkably robust in the sensitivity analysis.
interpretationOur findings suggest an association between pravastatin therapy and cancer in elderly patients. However, given the importance of this potential association, further verification is warranted.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.