Statin use and the risk of pancreatic cancer: A population-based case-control study

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate whether the use of statins was associated with pancreatic cancer risk. Methods: We conducted a population-based case-control study in Taiwan. Data were retrospectively collected from the Taiwan National health Insurance Research Database. Cases consisted of all patients who were 50 years or older and had a first-time diagnosis of pancreatic cancer for the period between 2003 and 2008. The control subjects were matched to cases by age, sex, and index date. Adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated by using multiple logistic regression. Results: We examined 190 pancreatic cancer cases and 760 control subjects. The unadjusted OR for any statin prescription was 1.07 (95% CI, 0.72-2.06), and the adjusted OR was 0.87 (95% CI, 0.56-1.36). Compared with no use of statins, the adjusted ORs were 1.06 (95% CI, 0.61-1.85) for the group having been prescribed statins with cumulative defined daily doses less than 114.33 and 0.71 (95% CI, 0.39-1.30) for the group with cumulative statin use of 114.33 defined daily doses or more. Conclusions: This study does not provide support for a beneficial association between usage of statin and pancreatic cancer.