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Results of a retrospective study suggest statins may decrease the risk of death in patients with multiple myeloma (MM).
Researchers analyzed data from nearly 5000 patients with MM and found that patients who took statins had a significant reduction in all-cause mortality and MM-specific mortality when compared to patients who did not take these drugs.
Kristen Marie Sanfilippo, MD, of Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, Missouri, and her colleagues reported these findings in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
The researchers analyzed data from the Veterans Administration Central Cancer Registry and identified 4957 patients who were diagnosed with MM between 1999 and 2013.
Of these patients, 2294 were classified as statin users. The researchers defined statin use as the presence of any prescription for a statin within 3 months before MM diagnosis or any time thereafter.
The data showed that statin users had a longer median survival than non-users—39.5 months and 27 months, respectively.
When the researchers adjusted for potential confounders, they found that statin users had a 21% reduction in the risk of all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR]=0.79, P<0.001) and a 24% reduction in the risk of MM-specific mortality (aHR=0.76, P<0.001).
In addition, statin users had a 31% reduction in the risk of developing a skeletal-related event (aHR=0.69, P<0.001).
In a 12-month landmark analysis, statin use was associated with a significant reduction in the risk of all-cause mortality (aHR=0.86, P=0.001) and MM-specific mortality (aHR=0.83, P=0.01).
The reduction in all-cause mortality was 12% (P=0.004) for patients taking statins for at least 3 months, 16% (P<0.001) for patients taking statins for at least 6 months, and 18% (P=0.003) for patients taking statins for at least 9 months.
Patients with less than 365 daily defined doses (DDDs) of statins had a 20% reduction in the risk of all-cause mortality (aHR=0.80, P<0.001). And patients with ≥ 365 DDDs had a 22% reduction in the risk of all-cause mortality (aHR=0.78, P<0.001).
The reductions in MM-specific mortality according to DDDs were 22% (aHR=0.78, P=0.001) and 28% (aHR=0.72, P<0.001), respectively.
The researchers further adjusted for baseline differences between statin users and non-users with propensity-score matching. And statin use was still associated with a reduction in all-cause mortality (aHR=0.78, P<0.001) and MM-specific mortality (aHR=0.79, P=0.007).
The researchers said these results suggest a potential role for statin therapy in patients with MM, although the findings should be corroborated in prospective studies.
