Cheap cholesterol drug could reduce cancer risk, study finds

A cheap and common drug used to lower cholesterol may also reduce the risk of developing cancer, according to a new study.

Cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins may block a pathway involved in the formation of cancer caused by chronic inflammation in the body, according to research led by the Mass General Cancer Center and published in Nature Communications.

“Chronic inflammation is a leading cause of cancer worldwide,” lead author Dr. Shawn Demehri said in a press release. Demehri is a principal investigator at the Cancer Immunology and Skin Biology Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and an associate professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School.

“We studied the mechanism by which environmental toxins trigger chronic inflammation in the cancer-prone skin and pancreas. Additionally, we examined safe and effective therapies to block this pathway to suppress chronic inflammation and its cancerous consequences,” he added.

Chronic inflammation is responsible for about 20 percent of cancers worldwide, the study authors note, while, according to Yale Medicine, more than 40 million Americans take statins. Since statins are common and affordable medications, this study could potentially reduce the risk of developing cancer by helping them suppress chronic inflammation.

The study analyzed human tissue samples, animal models and epidemiological data.

By experimenting on cells, the researchers discovered that exposing cells to chemical irritants and allergens activated two pathways leading to the production of a certain protein that stimulates inflammation in the skin and pancreas. This inflammation can lead to the development of cancer.

The researchers further discovered that a statin called pitavastatin suppressed the activation of the cancer-causing protein by blocking a signaling pathway. They also found that in mice, the statin suppressed inflammation caused by environmental toxins, thereby preventing inflammation-related pancreatic cancers.

They plan to continue to determine other ways that statins can prevent cancer-causing inflammation.

“Next, we aim to further examine the impact of statins in preventing cancer development in chronic inflammation of the liver and gastrointestinal tract and identify other novel therapeutic approaches to suppress inflammation chronically cancer-prone,” Demehri said.