ArticleBritish journal of cancer2018
Statins attenuate outgrowth of breast cancer metastases.
Article in British journal of cancer, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 60 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
60 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 107 citations in OpenAlex.
- Statins and prognosis of female breast cancer: a meta-analysis.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2025Pooled it
- Statin use and breast cancer-specific mortality and recurrence: a systematic review and meta-analysis including the role of immortal time bias and tumour characteristics.British journal of cancer · 2025Pooled it
- Cholesterol and Its Derivatives: Multifaceted Players in Breast Cancer Progression.Frontiers in oncology · 2022Pooled it
- Targeting HDAC and proteostasis to eradicate quiescent cancer cells.Cancer gene therapy · 2026Article
- The role of growth hormone in metastasis and angiogenesis of breast cancer.Bioscience reports · 2026Review
- Enhancing the Water Solubility and Efficacy of Anticancer Drugs Using Hydroxypropyl-β-Cyclodextrin.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Atorvastatin as a pleiotropic anticancer agent: mechanisms, evidence, and therapeutic repurposing potential.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Liver Metastasis Risk and Timing in Pancreatic Cancer Patients Using Electronic Health Records.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025Article
- Postdiagnosis Statin Use and Breast Cancer Mortality.JAMA network open · 2025Observational
- Prospective study of cesarean scar pregnancy associated with increased MCP-1 and cholesterol synthesis.Biomedical reports · 2025Article
- Effects of Statins on All-Cause Mortality in Patients with Breast Cancer: A Population-Based Study.Biomedicines · 2025Article
- Lipid Metabolism and Breast Cancer: A Narrative Review of the Prognostic Implications and Chemotherapy-Induced Dyslipidemia.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Genetic association of lipids and lipid-lowering drug target genes with breast cancer.Discover oncology · 2025Article
- Role of the NuRD complex and altered proteostasis in cancer cell quiescence.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Statins as Secondary Preventive Agent to Limit Breast Cancer Metastatic Outgrowth.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Integrating the metabolic and molecular circuits in diabetes, obesity and cancer: a comprehensive review.Discover oncology · 2024Review
- Cell-cell interactions mediating primary and metastatic breast cancer dormancy.Cancer metastasis reviews · 2024Review
- 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
- BMP4-Induced Suppression of Breast Cancer Metastasis Is Associated with Inhibition of Cholesterol Biosynthesis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- FSP1-mediated ferroptosis in cancer: from mechanisms to therapeutic applications.Apoptosis : an international journal on programmed cell death · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMetastasis in breast cancer foreshadows mortality, as clinically evident disease is aggressive and generally chemoresistant. Disseminated breast cancer cells often enter a period of dormancy for years to decades before they emerge as detectable cancers. Harboring of these dormant cells is not individually predictable, and available information suggests that these micrometastatic foci cannot be effectively targeted by existing therapies. As such, long-term, relatively non-toxic interventions that prevent metastatic outgrowth would be an advance in treatment. Epidemiological studies have found that statins reduce breast cancer specific mortality but not the incidence of primary cancer. However, the means by which statins reduce mortality without affecting primary tumor development remains unclear.
methodsWe examine statin efficacy against two breast cancer cell lines in models of breast cancer metastasis: a 2D in vitro co-culture model of breast cancer cell interaction with the liver, a 3D ex vivo microphysiological system model of breast cancer metastasis, and two independent mouse models of spontaneous breast cancer metastasis to the lung and liver, respectively.
resultsWe demonstrate that statins can directly affect the proliferation of breast cancer cells, specifically at the metastatic site. In a 2D co-culture model of breast cancer cell interaction with the liver, we demonstrate that atorvastatin can directly suppress proliferation of mesenchymal but not epithelial breast cancer cells. Further, in an ex vivo 3D liver microphysiological system of breast cancer metastasis, we found that atorvastatin can block stimulated emergence of dormant breast cancer cells. In two independent models of spontaneous breast cancer metastasis to the liver and to the lung, we find that statins significantly reduce proliferation of the metastatic but not primary tumor cells.
conclusionsAs statins can block metastatic tumor outgrowth, they should be considered for use as long-term adjuvant drugs to delay clinical emergence and decrease mortality in breast cancer patients.
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Registered trials
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.