Twenty-six RCTs (n=86,936) were included in the review. Atorvastatin was evaluated in three studies (n=14,398), cerivastatin in one (n=250), fluvastatin in three (n=4,208), lovastatin in three (n=7,206), pravastatin in eleven (n=44,141) and simvastatin in five (n=26,075).
Treatment with statins did not reduce the incidence of cancer (OR 1.02, 95% CI: 0.97, 1.07) or cancer deaths (OR 1.01, 95% CI: 0.93, 1.09). No significant statistical heterogeneity was found (P>0.37 for both meta-analyses).
None of the subgroup analyses produced a statistically significant result, and the conclusions were not altered by varying the assumptions in the sensitivity analyses. Statistical heterogeneity was not significant for any outcome except incidence of breast cancer.
The funnel plots appeared slightly asymmetrical but the Begg and Egger methods did not suggest significant publication bias.