Statin use and the overall survival of renal cell carcinoma: A meta-analysis

Abstract

Purpose: Statins are commonly prescribed drugs that reduce cholesterol levels and the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events. Clinical studies have shown that statins also possess cancer-preventive properties. Two studies have reported that statins also possess cancer-preventive properties; however, whether statins improve the prognosis of patients with renal cell carcinoma is still unclear. In this study, we used meta-analysis to evaluate the association between statin use and overall survival risk in patients with renal cell carcinoma. Methods: Published studies on statin-treated renal cell carcinoma were retrieved from PubMed, Embase, The Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang databases from inception to July 2019. The relevant data were extracted and a meta-analysis was performed using Cochrane Review Manager (RevMan 5.3) software. Results: Data from five studies, which reported on 5,299 patients, were analysed. The application of statins showed no effects on the overall survival of patients with renal cell carcinoma compared with the control group (OR = 1.07, 95% CI:0.77 to 1.49, P = 0.68). Conclusions: The findings of this meta-analysis suggest that statin application does not affect the overall survival of patients with renal cell carcinoma.