A recently published study has suggested that reducing LDL cholesterol through the use of statins may actually increase the risk of cancer. The study was the result of a review of data from previous trials involving 41,000 patients. It is not clear whether the higher incidence of cancer (around one person per thousand) is the result of the drugs, the low levels of LDL achieved or just plain coincidence.
The study leader, Professor Richard Karas, was at pains to point out that the drug is not implicated here and that the benefits of statins in lowering the risk of heart disease were clear. No particular type of cancer predominated, so if the aggressive lowering of LDL did have an impact on the incidence of cancer, it would have to affect all types of cancer.
Other experts have cast doubt on the findings saying that as the trials only lasted five years, the onset of cancer would have to have been very rapid indeed. What is more likely is that people who may have died from heart disease prior to the treatment with statins simply lived a bit longer and died of cancer instead!
A spokesman for the British Heart Foundation said that there is overwhelming evidence that the use of statins saves lives by preventing heart attacks and strokes and that the potential benefits far outweigh the potential risks.