Statins could prevent the spread of breast cancer to other organs, study finds

Statins could prevent the spread of breast cancer, according to a new study.

The researchers say that drugs, which fight high cholesterol, do not prevent cancer from developing, but prevent it from spreading to other organs.

Experiments on human cells and laboratory mice revealed that the pills prevented tumors from migrating to the lungs and liver.

The team at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center believes these results could pave the way for the combined use of statins and chemotherapy drugs as a more affordable and effective treatment for one of the leading causes of death in women.

For the study, the team used genetically engineered mice to develop breast cancer.

The researchers used commonly prescribed atorvastatin, often marketed under the Lipitor brand name.

Taking into account the size of the mice, the scientists administered atrovastatin doses of between 2 mg and 10 mg per kg, which is close to the equivalent of 20 and 80 mg tablets taken by humans. .

The results showed that statins, which have been injected into the mouse, have no effect on primary breast cancers, which cause tumors.

It was different in the metastasis, the stage at which the cancer spreads to another part of the body from which it started.

Statins have limited this life-threatening process, in which tumors spread to the lungs and liver to the point of becoming clinically insignificant.

The same results were obtained when the researchers introduced a breast cancer cell into a liver cell.

"These effects are important for several reasons," said Dr. Alan Wells, professor of pathology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

"At first, the doses of atorvastatin used are similar to those used for lipid-lowering therapy of moderate intensity in clinical patients."

"Second, we found a divergent effect of atorvastatin on breast cancer cells. Although statins did not affect primary tumor cells, metastatic cells were suppressed.

Dr. Wells said the results, published in the British Journal of Cancer, suggest that statins could be used in combination with chemotherapy drugs to cure the disease.

For US women, breast cancer mortality rates are higher than those of all other cancers, with the exception of lung cancer, according to Breastcancer.org

It is estimated that nearly 41,000 American women will die of breast cancer in 2018, although their rates have been falling since 1989.

If it is detected in its infancy, the five-year relative survival rate of breast cancer is 99%. But if it has spread to a distant part of the body, the rate drops to 27%.

Indeed, when breast cancer reaches stage IV, it becomes aggressive and generally resistant to chemotherapy.

"Thus, treatments aimed at maintaining dormant metastases and preventing their fatal emergence are desirable for prolonging breast cancer survival," said Dr. Wells.

While new anti-cancer drugs are very expensive and need to be rigorously tested by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), statins are relatively inexpensive.

"As such, the reuse of previously approved FDA-approved drugs with favorable safety profiles can lead to faster clinical implementation of effective low cost treatments," said Dr. Wells.