TY - JOUR
T1 - Statins and breast cancer
T2 - Future directions in chemoprevention
AU - Santa-Maria, Cesar A.
AU - Stearns, Vered
N1 - Funding Information:
Vered Stearns has received grants from Pfizer, Novartis, Merck, Abraxis, MedImmune, and Abbot.
PY - 2013/9
Y1 - 2013/9
N2 - Given the high incidence, morbidity and mortality associated with breast cancer, developing effective chemopreventive strategies is crucial. Clinicians must carefully identify both populations at risk who would benefit from chemoprevention, and interventions that are effective and safe. Tamoxifen and raloxifene, the 2 agents approved for breast cancer chemoprevention, and third generation aromatase inhibitors reduce only the incidence of hormone receptor-positive tumors. 3-Hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMG-CoAR) inhibitors, or statins, are well tolerated and approved for prevention of cardiovascular disease. In preclinical breast cancer models, statins carry potent anti-neoplastic activity. Results from epidemiological and clinical studies, however, are conflicting and have not identified a strong relationship between statin use and reduced breast cancer incidence. These studies have several limitations and were not designed to detect modest effects in high-risk populations. Additional focused epidemiological and translational studies in high-risk populations are needed to justify and guide definitive large prospective trials.
AB - Given the high incidence, morbidity and mortality associated with breast cancer, developing effective chemopreventive strategies is crucial. Clinicians must carefully identify both populations at risk who would benefit from chemoprevention, and interventions that are effective and safe. Tamoxifen and raloxifene, the 2 agents approved for breast cancer chemoprevention, and third generation aromatase inhibitors reduce only the incidence of hormone receptor-positive tumors. 3-Hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMG-CoAR) inhibitors, or statins, are well tolerated and approved for prevention of cardiovascular disease. In preclinical breast cancer models, statins carry potent anti-neoplastic activity. Results from epidemiological and clinical studies, however, are conflicting and have not identified a strong relationship between statin use and reduced breast cancer incidence. These studies have several limitations and were not designed to detect modest effects in high-risk populations. Additional focused epidemiological and translational studies in high-risk populations are needed to justify and guide definitive large prospective trials.
KW - Biomarkers
KW - Breast cancer risk
KW - Cancer recurrence
KW - Cancer review
KW - Chemoprevention
KW - HMG-CoAR inhibitors
KW - High-risk populations
KW - Statins
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U2 - 10.1007/s12609-013-0119-7
DO - 10.1007/s12609-013-0119-7
M3 - Article
C2 - 23997864
AN - SCOPUS:84884356364
SN - 1943-4588
VL - 5
SP - 161
EP - 169
JO - Current Breast Cancer Reports
JF - Current Breast Cancer Reports
IS - 3
ER -