Background: Statins are the first-line agents used to treat patients with high serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, thus reducing the risk of death from arterial sclerotic cardiovascular disease; however, little is known about the effects of non-statin pharmacological interventions on mortality as well as about the potential protective effects of statin use against cancer death. This work aimed to compare all-cause and cancer mortality among patients with hyperlipidaemia who did and did not receive statin treatment.
Methods: Between 2003 and 2007 fiscal years, we recruited Japanese patients diagnosed with hyperlipidaemia from 66 hospitals. Patients in our cohort were followed up for a maximum of 12 years to observe the causes of death. Kaplan-Meier estimates from the baseline were used to compare the mortality of patients based on the administered medicine. All-cause mortality were compared among patients with/without administration of statins and other agents; any-organ and colorectal cancer mortality were compared between patients with/without administration of statins.
Results: Our cohort included 41,930 patients with mean ages of 64-66 years and mean body mass indices of 24-25 kg/m2. Patients who received statin monotherapy and were treated with lifestyle modification exhibited nearly identical survival curves, whereas statin use represented a non-significant but potentially protective effect against colorectal cancer-related mortality. The lowest mortality in this cohort was associated with resin monotherapy.
Conclusions: Mortality rate has been similar for patients treated with statin monotherapy and lifestyle modification. Statin monotherapy could potentially reduce any-organ- and colorectal cancer-related mortality.
Keywords: Anti-cholesterol agents; Colon cancer; Dyslipidaemia; Kaplan–Meier estimate; Statins.
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