Statins could reduce ovarian cancer risk by 40 per cent
There has been a recent beat-up in the media with a suggestion that statins drugs may reduce ovarian cancer. This statement appears to be a false premise or logical fallacy.
Statins are one of the most commonly prescribed drugs, with almost 30% of the American adult population taking statins to reduce the risk of coronary artery disease. Statins reduce circulating lipoproteins by inhibition of a co-enzyme; in addition there is a side effect of increased cell death, which may have some protective effect against cancer.
A recent article* states that women who have a genetic deficiency of the same co-enzyme have a 40% decreased risk of developing ovarian cancer. The study has been misinterpreted in that taking oral statins would have the same effect. This is yet to be proved.
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