Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23357487›Full record

SynthesisClinical gastroenterology and hepatology : the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association2013

Statins are associated with reduced risk of esophageal cancer, particularly in patients with Barrett's esophagus: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Siddharth Singh, Abha Goyal Singh, Preet Paul Singh, Mohammad Hassan Murad, Prasad G Iyer

Open access · greenAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Clinical gastroenterology and hepatology : the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 90 papers, 13 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
90citing papers in PubMed, 13 pooled it
22.4field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

90 citing papers in PubMed, 13 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 182 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Chemoprevention of Barrett's Esophagus: a Systematic Review and Comprehensive Assessment of Bias.Diseases of the esophagus : official journal of the International Society for Diseases of the Esophagus · 2025
    Pooled it
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  8. ACG Clinical Guideline: Diagnosis and Management of Barrett's Esophagus.The American journal of gastroenterology · 2016
    Guideline
  9. Pooled it
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  14. Metformin does not reduce markers of cell proliferation in esophageal tissues of patients with Barrett's esophagus.Clinical gastroenterology and hepatology : the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association · 2015
    Trial
  15. Article
  16. Review
  17. Carcinoma of Esophagus.Journal of gastroenterology and hepatology · 2025
    Review
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article

30 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Siddharth SinghDivision of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
Abha Goyal Singh
Preet Paul Singh
Mohammad Hassan Murad
Prasad G Iyer
Mayo Clinic · USWinnMed · US

Funding

Comparative Effectiveness of endoscopic assessment of GER and BERC4DK090413 · NIDDK · MAYO CLINIC ROCHESTER · PI IYER, PRASAD G. · 2010 to 2012
$1.0M
NIDDK NIH HHS RC4 DK090413NIDDK NIH HHS RC4DK090413
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND &

aimsThe incidence of esophageal cancer is increasing in the United States, especially among patients with Barrett's esophagus (BE). Statins might prevent this cancer. We performed a systematic review with a meta-analysis of studies that evaluated the effect of statins on the risk of esophageal cancer.

methodsWe conducted a systematic search of Medline, Embase, and Web of Science through August 2012. Studies were included if they evaluated exposure to statins, reported the development of esophageal cancer, and reported relative risks or odds ratios (OR), or provided data for their estimation. Summary OR estimates with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using the random-effects model. The analysis included 13 studies (including a post hoc analysis of 22 randomized controlled trials) reporting 9285 cases of esophageal cancer among 1,132,969 patients.

resultsA meta-analysis of the studies showed a significant (28%) reduction in the risk of esophageal cancer among patients who took statins (adjusted OR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.60-0.86), although there was considerable heterogeneity among studies. In analyzing a subset of patients known to have BE (5 studies, 312 esophageal adenocarcinomas [EAC] developed in 2125 patients), statins were associated with a significant (41%) decrease in the risk of EAC, after adjusting for potential confounders (adjusted OR, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.45-0.78) with consistent results among all studies. The number needed to treat with statins to prevent 1 case of EAC in patients with BE was 389.

conclusionsBased on meta-analysis of observational studies, statin use may be associated with lower risk of esophageal cancer, particularly risk of EAC in patients with BE.

Indexed as

Anticholesteremic AgentsBarrett EsophagusEsophageal NeoplasmsHumansIncidenceRisk AssessmentAnticholesteremic Agents

Identifiers

PMID23357487
PMCPMC3660516
OpenAlexW2103016451

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.