The Role of Statins in the Prevention of Ovarian and Endometrial Cancers

• Published in: Cancer prevention research (Philadelphia, Pa.) Vol. 16; no. 4; pp. 191 - 197
• Main Authors: Zeleznik, Oana A, Irvin, Sarah R, Samimi, Goli, Trabert, Britton
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 03-04-2023
• Subjects: Anti-Inflammatory Agents; Endometrial Neoplasms - drug therapy; Endometrial Neoplasms - prevention & control; Female; Genital Neoplasms, Female; Humans; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors - pharmacology; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors - therapeutic use; Lipids
• ISSN: 1940-6207; 1940-6215
• DOI: 10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-22-0374

Ovarian and endometrial cancers are the most common gynecologic malignancies and emerging evidence suggests that lipid metabolism and subsequent inflammation are important etiologic factors for both tumors. Statins (HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors) are the most widely prescribed lipid-lowering drugs in the United States and are used by 25% of adults aged 40+ years. In addition to their cardio-protective actions, statins have anti-inflammatory effects and have demonstrated antiproliferative and apoptotic properties in cancer cell lines, supporting a potential role in cancer prevention. To appropriately quantify potential public health impact of statin use for cancer prevention, there is a great need to understand the potential risk reduction among individuals at a higher risk of gynecologic cancers, the group that will likely need to be targeted to effectively balance risk/benefit of medications repurposed for cancer prevention. In this commentary, we focus on summarizing emerging evidence suggesting that the anti-inflammatory and lipid-lowering mechanisms of statins may provide important cancer-preventive benefits for gynecologic cancers as well as outline important unanswered questions and future research directions.