Statins are a type of medication that are commonly used to help lower cholesterol. And new research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association has found that they could also help protect against damage to the hearts of women as they go through chemotherapy for early-stage breast cancer.
Lead author of the study, Husam Abdel-Qadir of the University of Toronto, writes, “Two types of cancer medications, anthracyclines and trastuzumab, are effective treatments for many women with breast cancer, however, the risk of heart muscle damage has limited their use, particularly in women who are at higher risk for heart problems because of their age or other medical issues.”
He added, “The mechanisms for these medications are essential to kill breast cancer cells, however, these processes can also damage the cells of the heart muscle, leading to weakening of the heart.”
Former and smaller research studies have also shown that when females take statins, they may have less heart muscle damage when having to undergo these particular types of chemotherapy. Yet the exact way that these statins works to protect women against such cardiac cell damage is yet to be figured out. But what is believed is that these statins contain anti-inflammatory and antioxidative properties.
During the new study, the research group used a number of administrative health databases from Ontario, Canada. They took the results into review, looking into how often women ages 66 and above have experienced heart failure have received anthracyclines or trastuzumab between the years 2007 and 2017 after being diagnosed for early-stage breast cancer.
For every woman that has been taking statins, they were matched with another that was not taking statins, while also looking into their different social and medical background factors. Both groups of women were compared in order to better understand how many of them needed hospitalizations or were made to visit an emergency room for heart failure within five years from the time they underwent chemotherapy. Notably, none of the women had been previously diagnosed with heart failure either.
The following points are what researchers found:
From the 666 pairs of woman – with a median age of 69 – who were treated with anthracyclines, those taking statins ‘were 55% less likely to be treated at the hospital for heart failure (1.2% vs. 2.9%).’
For the 390 pairs of women – with a median age of 71 – that were treated with trastuzumab, those that were prescribed statins ‘were 54% less likely to be treated at the hospital for heart failure (2.7% vs. 3.7%), a trend that did not reach statistical significance.’
Abdel-Qadir explained, “Our findings support the idea that statins may be a potential intervention for preventing heart failure in patients receiving chemotherapy with anthracyclines and potentially trastuzumab.”
Although this observational study did find a link, it couldn’t conclude that there is a ‘cause-and-effect relationship between taking statins and a lower risk of heart failure.’
In addition, Abdel-Qadir said, “This study does not conclusively prove statins are protective. However, this study builds on the body of evidence suggesting that they may have benefits. For women with breast cancer who meet established indications for taking a statin, they should ideally continue taking it throughout their chemotherapy treatment.”
He also stated, “Women who do not have an indication for a statin should ask their health care team if they can join a clinical trial studying the benefits of statins in protecting against heart muscle damage during chemotherapy. Otherwise, they should focus on measures to optimize their cardiovascular health before, during, and after chemotherapy.”
While this study looked into older women, it cannot be generalized for younger females or those that have a lower cardiovascular risk and don’t require to use any statins. But while the population of females in Canada are similar in demographics to those within the United States, then a generalization amongst women of the same age in both countries is permissible.
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