Epidemiologic analysis along the mevalonate pathway reveals improved cancer survival in patients who receive statins alone and in combination with bisphosphonates

Purpose Cohort studies report associations between statin use and improved survival in patients with cancer. We used pharmacoepidemiologic methods to evaluate the survival of patients with cancer who received statins alone or in ostensibly synergistic drug combinations. Materials and Methods Patients with cancer who were diagnosed from 2010 to 2013 were identified in a large health care claims database. The rate of all-cause death up to 1 year after diagnosis was compared by Cox proportional hazard regression. Sensitivity analyses included age stratification, statin type and intensity, and comparison with or without bisphosphonates and dipyridamole. Results Among 312,907 identified patients with cancer, treatment groups included statin users (n = 65,440), nonstatin users who received medications that block cholesterol absorption (n = 9,289), and nonusers (n = 226,007). Statin use before diagnosis was associated with improved overall survival compared with no treatment (hazard ratio [HR], 0.85;95%CI, 0.80 to 0.91) and specifically in patients with leukemia, lung, or renal cancers. Nonstatin users had increased overall survival compared with no treatment (HR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.62 to 0.85); when stratified, this difference held true only for pancreatic cancer and leukemia. No differences were observed between statin and nonstatin groups. Bisphosphonate use alone had no effect (n = 4,528), but patients who used both statins and bisphosphonates (n = 4,090) had increased survival compared with no treatment (HR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.45 to 0.81). The effect of the combination of dipyridamole and statin use (n = 651) was not significant compared with no treatment. Conclusion This study suggests that the combination of statins with drugs that affect isoprenylation, such as bisphosphonates, improves survival in patients with cancer. Consideration of pathway-specific pharmacology allows for hypotheses testing with the pharmacoepidemiologic approach. Prospective evaluation of these findings warrants clinical investigation and preclinical mechanistic studies.