In the new study, the researchers compared statin use and blood cholesterol level between 22,163 patients with colorectal cancer and 86,538 patients without colorectal cancer (controls) from a database of electronic records of over 10 million patients from primary care practices in the United Kingdom.
They confirmed findings from previous studies that showed a decreased risk of colorectal cancer in statin users compared to non-users. However, they found that the difference in the risk of colorectal cancer was not significantly different between those patients who continued statin therapy and those who discontinued (OR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.79-1.22). Furthermore, for every 1 mmol/L (~38.6 mg/dl) increase in total cholesterol level, authors observed a 10 percent decreased risk of colorectal cancer.
Additionally, they observed that decreases in total serum cholesterol (>1 mmol/L) at least a year before the cancer diagnosis were associated with 1.25-fold and 2.36-fold increased risk of colorectal cancer in users and nonusers, respectively.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160426144737.htm
