Oct. 24, 2005 - Cholesterol levels and use of statins, or other lipid-lowering drugs, has no association with breast cancer risk, according to a large study published in the October 24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

At least two studies published in 2003 claimed statins appeared to be effective in preventing breast cancer. A study by University of Pittsburgh researchers focused on older women and found cholesterol-lowering medications may help to prevent breast cancer. This was published in the October 2003 issue of the Journal of Women's Health. They viewed data on 7,528 white women age 65 years and older.

The second 2003 study said statin drugs may also help prevent development of breast cancer, according to studies of the drugs in laboratory cell cultures. The investigators, from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, found that a side effect of statis is to allow body cells to maintain high levels of proteins which stop cancer cells from growing. Their findings were published in the Proceedings for the 2003 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.

In the latest study, Heather Eliassen, Sc.D., of the Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Mass., and colleagues analyzed data from the Nurses' Health Study to evaluate the associations of statins, lipid-lowering drugs and serum cholesterol levels (blood levels of cholesterol) with breast cancer.

Serum cholesterol levels and use of statins and lipid-lowering drugs were determined for 79,994 women through questionnaires completed in 1988, 1994, 1996, 1998 and 2000. Cases of breast cancer, diagnosed from the start of follow-up (1988) through May 31, 2000, were identified on biennial questionnaires. Medical records were used to confirm cancer reports.

There were 3,177 incident cases of invasive breast cancer, including 1,727 in the analysis among statin users.

Neither current nor long-term use of statins nor other lipid-lowering drugs were associated with breast cancer risk, the researchers report. There was no association between reported total serum cholesterol levels and breast cancer risk in either pre-menopausal or post-menopausal women.

"We also found no associations of general lipid-lowering drugs and serum cholesterol levels with breast cancer risk. Further study is warranted to evaluate the associations of longer durations of statin use and specific types of statins with breast cancer risk."

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